IT4Youth is a US $4 million, four-year pilot project in the West Bank aimed at enhancing the learning skills and employability of Palestinian youth. Its goal: to create hope among the most disadvantaged, vulnerable young people in Palestine, through improving the learning skills, creativity, and employability of those between the ages of 10 and 24.

The program is a joint effort by the Welfare Association, a nonprofit Palestinian foundation, and IYF. Over the past year, computer labs have been installed in 14 schools—with more than 20 computers in each lab. As a result, over 4,000 young people, half of which are girls, have been trained in computer-based information technology (IT). Two community-based IT centers were built in the northern part of the West Bank and the city of Ramallah in 2003, which extend the reach of the program to out-of-school youth, both male and female. The centers provide vocational training and assist Palestinian youth in finding employment, and also, using the Computer Clubhouse model, provide creative, fun environments for learning and playing.

Funded through a grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the program, when fully operational, expects to reach 6,000 young people annually. Additional funders include Intel Corporation, the International Youth Foundation, the Welfare Association, the Finnish Children and Youth Foundation, and other corporations as well as individuals.

To learn more about IYF's Youth Employment initiatives click here.

To visit the IT4Youth website go to www.it4youth.org