New generation of young leaders in Palestine
In May, Mr. Obada Shtaya, director of the advancement of Zimam, visited the UNDEF office in New York and agreed to give us an overview of the project's achievements. Through the UNDEF-funded project, Zimam sought to achieve two outcomes: to create lasting impact from projects and to empower activists to become decision-makers in their villages and cities.
Maisaa Alyan's story summarizes everything Zimam has been trying to achieve over recent years. At the beginning of the program, Maisaa was among the youngest participants with many ideas, but she was also among the least knowledgeable about public policy. Maisaa joined the program because she wanted to have a seat at the table one day but thought that a young woman like herself could never compete with more established men with many years of experience and maintain the status quo. However, Ziman helped her believe in herself and become more confident in her ideas and approach through the different training sessions offered by the organization.
Now, Maisaa has become an example for other girls in her village to follow. Right after she won a seat in the council, Maisaa started working on forming a youth council to generate new ideas and gain their input. Also, she has worked on improving the village's social media platforms to highlight the achievements of the council and to receive recommendations from the public on issues she should address. However, Maisaa's biggest priority is related to national traffic. Her village of Dar Salah is in conjunction with Wadi al-Nar road where traffic is the worst in Palestine. Since the national government has not provided a solution, Maisaa has initiated a small project to open an extension to the road to reduce traffic. While this is a short-term solution, it has already reduced traffic significantly.
Ziman aims to empower more young activists like Maisaa to become decision-makers. Their mission is to better prepare and empower future politicians instead of putting more pressure on current politicians to make the right decisions.
