People-to-People Partnership for Peace Fund Grants Activity

USAID’s People-to-People Partnership for Peace Fund supports Israeli-Palestinian partnerships that build on a proven record of solving common economic and social development challenges.

TechSeeds for Peace (T4P) 

$5 million • Implemented by Appleseeds • 2022-2025

TechSeeds for Peace (T4P) harnesses technology as a common interest to bring together Palestinians and Israelis for skills development and career advancement to take advantage of this growing market and building lasting personal relationships. Today, there are 20,000 open software development positions in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. The activity engages over 1,000 young Palestinian and Israeli professionals from underserved communities to learn technology, leadership, conflict mitigation, and soft skills side-by-side. The activity supports “full-stack training,” which includes both back-end and front-end skills development, including database, algorithms, and code training in addition to training on visual design, app development, and data storage. Participants also receive interview and resume skills training to promote career advancement in the high technology field. Palestinian and Israeli youth engage in training and education sessions together as they learn to work together as peers.

Harvesting Cross-Border Cooperation through Environmental Action

$2.2 million • Implemented by The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies • 2023-2025

Harvesting Cross-Border Cooperation fosters dialogue and cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians on pressing environmental issues. The activity holds workshops to build an Israeli-Palestinian community equipped to advance decentralized climate resilience initiatives. The activity creates spaces for Israeli and Palestinian environmental experts to exchange information, identify solutions, and build relationships.

Eco-Play

$2.3 million • Implemented by Ein Dor Museum of Archaeology • 2023-2026

Eco-Play is an environmentally-focused youth leadership program for high-school students in the Galilee region. Over the course of this program, Arab and Jewish youth design and implement a community playground and garden, as well as exhibitions, social events, and games.  

Youth United for the Environment

$500,000 • Implemented by Eco-Ocean • 2023-2026

Youth United for the Environment brings together Israeli and Palestinian youth to tackle local climate challenges. Together, they identify solutions to climate challenges in their communities. Climate Connections provides a platform for students to use investigative reporting, photography, and video journalism to address climate issues.

Partnership for Climate Resilience and Water Security

$3.3 million • Implemented by EcoPeace Middle East • 2022-2025

Partnership for Climate Resilience and Water Security uses scientific and grassroots approaches to build awareness, knowledge, and solutions to address water scarcity and climate change. Fifteen Israeli and fifteen Palestinian scientific experts collaborate on a new water model for equitable and sustainable water use, enabling participants to break down barriers to resolving conflict over water and climate related issues. The grassroots component develops materials for students and trains Palestinian and Israeli teachers to increase awareness of climate challenges including mitigation and adaptation measures. Teachers participate in meetings to promote regional cooperation. Additionally, 150 Israeli and 150 Palestinian young professionals will participate in Water Diplomacy Training to promote sustainable water use and collaboration for future generations.

Middle East Binational Psychotherapy School

$1.2 million • Implemented by Hadassah Medical Center • 2023-2025

Middle East Binational Psychotherapy School convenes Israeli and Palestinian professionals in formal and informal settings to enhance their skills in child and adolescent psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. Through training opportunities and workshops, Israeli and Palestinian mental health professionals study, research, and develop techniques to address the conflict’s impacts on the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents.

Trilateral Female Leaders

$500,000 • Implemented by H.L. Education for Peace • 2023-2025

The Trilateral Female Leaders activity is creating a network in which women unite in a shared vision for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This program recruits 600 diverse Arab, Jewish, and Palestinian women with leadership potential. They participate in dialogue-based advocacy activities and a series of bridge-building meetings between multiple target groups. They learn the skills necessary to advocate broadly on behalf of peace, including by engaging the wider public.

Interfaith Peacebuilding Initiative

$500,000 • Implemented by Interfaith Encounter Association • 2023-2026

The Interfaith Peacebuilding Initiative brings together Palestinians and Israelis from diverse political and religious communities. Interfaith encounters promote peace and advance inter-communal equality-based relations by presenting opportunities for Muslims, Jews, and Christians to regularly meet and discuss religious and cultural topics. By identifying shared values and experiences, participants build a foundation of trust and understanding.

Prosperity Through Partnership (PTP) 

$2.2 million • Implemented by Mercy Corps • 2022-2025

Prosperity Through Partnership brings together, trains, and coaches at least 600 Palestinian and Israeli business owners and staff members of small and medium sized enterprises to build partnerships and advance participants’ business goals. Through the activity, Palestinian and Israeli business leaders identify challenges and solutions to increase trade between the West Bank and Israel. It also supports Palestinian and Israeli trade associations, leveraging their networks and connections across Israel and the West Bank to increase business opportunities and relationships.

Education2Action

$5 million • Implemented by Middle East Education through Technology (MEET) • 2023-2028

Education2Action is creating a network of entrepreneurial Israeli and Palestinian youth peacemakers to address challenges in and between their communities. This activity selects high school participants through a rigorous recruitment process for specialized training in computer science, entrepreneurship, and leadership. More than 1,000 youth will take part in this two-year educational program in partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, followed by a two-year entrepreneurial and volunteer practicum.

Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) 

$630,000 • Implemented by Operating Together of the Society of Friends of Edith Wolfson Medical Center • 2022-2024

Cross-border communication and collaboration for patient care, particularly in the case of trauma patients, has long been a successful area of teamwork between Palestinians and Israelis. Advanced Trauma Life Support builds on this cooperation by offering internationally recognized courses for trauma care that supports not only individuals, but a systemic approach to trauma. Through shared educational, academic, and clinical programs for Israeli and Palestinian trauma surgeons, this activity optimizes trauma care for local communities while creating shared experiences and building deeper respect and lasting partnerships between colleagues.

Next Generation Accelerator 

$4.5 million • Implemented by Our Generation Speaks • 2022-2025

The Next Generation Accelerator initiative creates a generation of leaders with the skills, motivation, and networks to build an entrepreneurial community committed to shaping a peaceful Israeli-Palestinian future from the ground up. Based on the premise that an interconnected human and economic infrastructure is essential to support a lasting peace, the Next Generation Accelerator uses entrepreneurship as a vehicle to attract young Israelis and Palestinians and support their development as leaders within a startup ecosystem across the West Bank, Gaza, and Israel.

Public Voices for Change

$540,000 • Implemented by Parents Circle-Families Forum • 2023-2026

The Public Voices for Change activity elevates the voices of Israeli and Palestinian bereaved members of Parents Circle-Families Forum in public discourse. Palestinian and Israeli participants build their advocacy skills by participating in multiple trainings and workshops. These initiatives help them to conduct outreach to Israeli and Palestinian civil society, religious leaders, activists, educational leaders, artists, and other public figures, to gain endorsement and promote messages of peace and reconciliation.

Game Changers United

$1.6 million • Implemented by Peace Players • 2023-2028

The Game Changers United activity leverages sports as a medium for peacebuilding. Israeli and Palestinian youth join mixed teams to break down barriers through the teambuilding and problem solving inherent in team sports. To strengthen peacebuilding, the activity fosters Israeli-Palestinian cooperation and overcomes resistance to girls and women in sports. Game Changers United seeks to build grassroots support for peace via a broad, youth-led constituency committed to peace and unified in sport.

DevelopMed – Medicine in the Service of Peace

$2.21 million • Implemented by Peres Center • 2022-2025

The DevelopMed - Medicine in the Service of Peace activity creates a sustainable, formalized approach to cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian stakeholders in the healthcare field. Healthcare offers a unique window of opportunity for cross-border partnership and peacebuilding between Palestinians and Israelis. DevelopMed has established an Israeli-Palestinian Medical Cooperation Consortium that engages stakeholders on ways to improve cross-border medical cooperation. The activity provides in-person training to over 300 Israeli and Palestinian medical professionals, increasing mutual trust, confidence, and understanding between them.

Photo Salam

$1.3 million • Implemented by Photo Israel • 2023-2026

Photo Salam provides Arab and Jewish youth in four mixed cities in Israel with a collaborative platform to document their daily experiences and share their world views through photography. Their photography work is to be displayed through various public platforms, including outdoor local exhibits in multiple cities in Israel and an International Photography Festival in Tel Aviv.

Making Peace

$1 million • Implemented by Reut USA • 2022-2024

Making Peace supports Israeli and Palestinian collaboration by using technology, design, and innovation to create and disseminate affordable solutions for marginalized groups, including people living with disabilities and the elderly. Through a series of in-person and online activities, the project brings together hundreds of Israeli and Palestinian innovators to identify shared challenges across both societies and brainstorm to develop highly-affordable open-source technology, such as 3D printing of prosthetics or manufacturing wheelchairs for young children.

Palestinian-Israeli Specialist Nursing Hub

$2.35 million • Implemented by Project Rozana • 2022-2025

The Palestinian-Israeli Specialist Nursing Hub activity engages nearly 500 nurses from leading Palestinian and Israeli healthcare institutions in seminars and collective peacebuilding activities, real-time consultations, and regular case sharing. The activity contributes to ensuring quality care for both Palestinian and Israeli patients at local facilities in the West Bank and Israel through shared learning and training opportunities. Additionally, the activity will fund joint research to assess the activity as a mode of capacity building and health diplomacy.

Women Entrepreneurship Development (WED)

$3.3 million • Implemented by Tomorrow’s Youth Organization • 2022-2026

Women Entrepreneurship Development provides Palestinian women entrepreneurs support to transform an idea into a sustainable business model through training, seed funding, and connections with successful Israeli entrepreneur mentors. In addition, the project supports women-led small businesses through a workspace created to offer startups and new ventures access to the resources they need. A separate component of the activity builds the skills of young women and exposes them to role models, strengthening the next generation of women entrepreneurs.

Growing Opportunities, Growing Employment in Tech

$2.45 million • Implemented by Tsofen High Technology Centers • 2023-2026

The Growing Opportunities, Growing Employment in Tech activity brings together Jewish citizens of Israel, Arab citizens of Israel, and West Bank Palestinians through their shared interest in hi-tech.  “Growing Opportunities” organizes a series of activities that facilitate the employment of Arab university graduates in hi-tech, both in Israel and in the West Bank. In doing so, the project mitigates against economic inequalities that drive the conflict and serve as a barrier to peace, while at the same time creating workplaces and professional communities where contact and cooperation is a normal part of doing business.

Women Building Bridges

$500,000 • Implemented by Women Wage Peace • 2023-2025

The Women Building Bridges activity is jointly envisioned, planned, and carried out by Israeli and Palestinian women’s movements. A diverse group of Israeli and Palestinian women train to become peace advocates and to encourage the consideration of political solutions to the conflict.

Women Entrepreneurship Without Borders

$4.4 million • Implemented by Yozmot Atid • 2023-2026

The Women Entrepreneurship Without Borders activity puts women at the heart of both economic development and peacebuilding. The program establishes major localized joint economic hubs that train cohorts of women micro-entrepreneurs in business operations, management, and administration in northern, central, and southern regions and the West Bank; establish a cross-border Israeli-Palestinian professional business cooperative platform; accelerate and seed joint micro businesses; and eventually create a network of Israeli and Palestinian businesswomen to collaborate across divides.

 

Note: These represent current awards administered by USAID/West Bank and Gaza. The dollar amounts are the technical estimated costs of the award over the full period of performance and outyear funding is subject to availability of funding.