The brief calls for efforts to be exerted to enable the participation of Palestinian refugee youth in public governance within their communities, beyond traditional civic engagement approaches. Only by doing so can risks posed by general frustration, socio-political disengagement, and low levels of trust in institutions be avoided.

The Policy Brief is based on Al Nahda Thought Center “Voices of Palestinian Refugee Youth across the Near East: Socio-Political Participation and Aspirations” Study and proposes five recommendations for programmatic interventions: 1-Enhance Palestinian refugee youth’s access to justice; 2-Strengthen their opportunity to participate in public governance within their communities; 3-Build on the opportunities provided by youth’s “wired citizenship”; 4-Support the rehabilitation of Palestinian cultural heritage and identity vis-à-vis host societies and among Palestinian refugee youth; 5-Promote opportunities for quality education with a view to enhancing opportunities for decent work. The brief also recommends the need to implement tailored youth-oriented data collection along with psychosocial support as needed within each of the programmatic areas.

The Brief is written under the assumption that efforts to reduce the economic marginalization of Palestinian refugee youth must underpin programmatic initiatives regarding political participation efforts, as decent livelihoods lie at the basis of youth’s future in their communities and the region.