Ibtikar for Empowerment and Social Entrepreneurship

National Network
Palestine
Address

Al Karkafa Street
Bethlehem
Territoires palestiniens

Telephone
+9722742498
Fax
+9722742498
E-Mail
ibtikar.palestine@gmail.com
Mobile Phone
+972568106880
Organisation Type
Non-Governmental Organization
Year of Establishment
2017
Fields of Activity
  1. Democracy and community development
  2. Environment/Sustainable development
  3. Gender
  4. Human rights
  5. Youth and education
General Information
Ibtikar was created by a group of Palestinian educators, entrepreneurs, activists, and changemakers. Together, we bring in extensive professional experience in intercultural learning, youth empowerment, social entrepreneurship, non-formal education, democracy & civic engagement, social impact measurement, organizational development, and social innovation, among many more. Working for many years in these fields, we found ourselves often debating what was missing: a program that doesn’t exclude, that doesn’t limit diversity to different societal categories, a program that fully and outspoken offers learning opportunities that empower and generate change.  Who we are: - Ibtikar is a Palestinian NGO that offers innovative youth programs, corporate training, and consulting services to foster social innovation and entrepreneurship in the community.  - Ibtikar promotes education for social innovation. Ibtikar wants to allow Palestinians to use their creativity to respond to social issues and contribute effectively to building a fairer, more caring, and equal society. Also, Ibtikar believes that education for Social Innovation makes well-being amongst young people and helps build a strong nation that is more inclusive, empathetic, and connected. - Ibtikar works to empower and support young people to realize their potential as social innovators, giving them the needed skills to tackle the social issues that they face in their communities.  - Ibtilar believes that Young people must lead the way in making the Sustainable Development Goals a reality. Each of the Ibtikar's projects is a powerful tool to accelerate progress on the Goals. Ibtikar will do its best to ensure decision-makers and influencers hear their voices. 
Mission and Objectives

Ibtikar strategy (2020-2025), which is aligned with U.N. transformative 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: Leave No One Behind, articulated the organization vision as “ We work to empower the next generation to address society’s needs,” and its mission as “We offer innovative youth program, corporate training and consulting services to foster social innovation, entrepreneurship and civic engagement in the community.
Besides, Ibtikar connects, inspires, trains, and mentor young change agents and innovators to become global problem solvers guided by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals”.  Furthermore, the strategy envisioned Ibtikar taking new programmatic roles as a catalyst, enabler, and facilitating change aspiring to maximize impact and create social values. 

Main Projects / Activities

1. The Young Social Innovators
With Young Social Innovators, Ibtikar provides Palestinian young people
with the opportunity to use their creativity to respond to social issues
and contribute to building a fairer, more caring, and equal society. To
achieve this , we empower and support young people to realize their
potential as social innovators, giving them the skill s and confidence to
tackle the social issues to face them, their communities, and wider
society. The 12-month initiative i s a cus tomized capacity building
program for school s tudent s in Bethlehem di s trict. Student s work in
teams , explore social i s sues that concern them, and develop and
implement creative responses and solutions to social needs . Learning i s
youth-led and value-based, infused with an under s tanding of human
right s , civic engagement, ethics , and contribution to achieving the
SDGs .Ibtikar works with 200 school s ’ s tudent s (14-16 year s old) yearly.
Student s divided into 20 groups . Each group receives 50 training hour s .
Sixty teacher s are as well targeted through the same program. These
teacher s receive specific guidance to support the young innovator s in
developing new practices that respond to our community needs. This ,
in turn, contributes to improving the quality standards of the
the educational system in Pales tine.
2. The SDGiNNOVATION
The Sustainable Development Goal s (SDGs ) are a universal call to action
to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that all people enjoy
inclusion, peace, and prosperity.
With SDGiNOVATION, Ibtikar provides Palestinian young people with
the opportunity to use their creativity to respond to social issues and
contribute to the realization of the SDGs . SDGiNNOVATION focuses on
achieving greater awareness and knowledge among students , teachers ,
parents , and decision-maker s on the SDGS (education and development
based goal s ). The given project was developed to learn and teach for a
sus sustainable future in Pales tine through empowering school s and
teacher s across Pales tine to act on the United Nations Sustainable
Development through the use of social innovation tools . The project is
about; (1) teaching and learning through a global jus tice lens , allow
school  students , teachers, parent s and decision-maker s to explore
knowledge, skills , attitude, and values necessary to become global
citizens, (2) Empowering young people to use social innovation to
respond on social issues and act on the SDGs and (3) Facilitates school s
to work for a more just and sustainable world. The given project is
based on the following main pillar s (1) Student training, (2) Teacher s '
training (3) Parent workshops, and (4) School action project s with the
involvement of decision-makers.
3. Designing your life
A high percentage of the Palestinian people believe that they have
made a wrong decision in terms of their academic choices. Some of
them are not satisfied with their jobs. A lot of college graduates do not
work in a field that bears s any resemblance to the subject they majored
in. Ibtikar believes that human beings can reach their designation even
if their current location isn't the one they hoped. Ibtikar thinks that
human beings need to know the direction.
There are four critical areas of our life. We always need to assess before
we embark on our transformative journey: (1) Health: The main pillar s of
thi s areas are phys ical, emotional, and mental s tatus . (2) Work: It i s
about the work the human beings are doing, whether it is paid or a
volunteer. (3) Play: It is about entertainment and the things we do for
the fun of them and (4) Relationships: The relationships that human
beings develop and invest in. With Designing your Life, Ibtikar provides
people with an opportunity to find a balance between these four areas.
In other words, Ibtikar is trying to help people to find the most suitable
situation for their current interest s in such a way that meets their future
expectations. In this program, we suggest innovative ways that help
people to design their life through different interactive and creative
exercises. The main philosophy of the program is summarized in; (1).
Human beings choose better when they have lots of good ideas to
select from. (2). Human beings never want their fir s t solution to any
problem. Designing your life is a 2-month program that targets s 20
participant s maximum. The program is based on the Design Thinking
Process. It is realized through different components:- Dysfunctional
beliefs: they are unfounded constraint s that we put on ourselves,
limiting our options. These belief s make people feel inadequate. Ibtikar
provides people with different exercises to reframe their dysfunctional
belief s .- Personal development: Ibtikar empower s and supports
participant s to realize their potential, giving them the skill s and
confidence to tackle the main challenges facing them in their
communities and society. This part of the program builds wellbeing
amongst participant s to recognize the full potential that leads them to
the future that they want.- Life-long Strategy: In this part, Ibtikar helps
the participant s to design a lifelong strategy in which they can find a
balance between the four life areas mentioned above. Ibtikar will test
this strategy through the next step, which is prototyping.- Prototyping
your new life: Prototyping is an excellent way of testing new ideas,
features, or experiences. The benefit of prototyping is that the
participant s can learn a lot about the experience over a short time with
minimal investments. Ibtikar provides participant s the opportunity to
have prototyping talks with people who are doing the same thing that
the participant s are planning to do in the future.

How can you contribute to the Network in your country?

We will cooperate with the Palestinian network to:
Develop social innovators and entrepreneurs. 
enable quality youth-led social innovation in the community.
Provide programs and platforms that actively engage young people in making real and positive change.
Empower educators with facilitative practices, programs, professional development, and recognition.
Share our model and innovative entrepreneurial learning methods with educators (teachers and social workers) who, in turn, facilitate teams of young people.
Work and support with local and international organizations that facilitate youth-led social innovation and entrepreneurial education.
Share our learning and model of social innovation learning at the local and international levels. 
Also, we will support the organizational development and capacity building plans which are developed by the Palestinian network for the benefits of its members. 

Why do you want to join the ALF Network?

We share ALF network the same mission:
"We exist to build more inclusive, empathetic and resilient societies, to fight growing mistrust and polarisation"
We face the same challenge: 
We need new narratives that empower exchange to move away from the confrontation that societies are facing nowadays. We need dialogue because the dialogue is tolerant and freedom, it enlarges our perspectives, makes our participation to public life real and it gives hope and courage to citizens.
Last not least, Ibtikar wants to give Palestinians and other people of our world an opportunity to use their creativity to respond to social issues and contribute effectively to building a fairer, more caring and equal society. This objective goes directly with ALF's overall goal: to create a better world through partnerships and action across cultures. 
 

Informations supplémentaires
Contact (1) Full Name
Mohammad Issa
Job Title
CEO
Head of the organisation
Ibtikar for Empowerment and Social Entrepreneurship
Contact (2) Full Name
Sulaima Ramadan
Job Title (2)
General Manager