Apple “Seeds” Planted in the West Bank: A public-private partnership between USAID and Apple facilitated the first ever “Apple Days” in the West Bank.  An Apple team visited Ramallah to introduce the potential for Palestinian programmers to develop and sell applications (Apps) for iPads and iPhones in what is estimated will be a $27 billion market by the end of 2012. USAID has identified the emerging Palestinian IT industry as a high-growth potential sector, largely because security barriers do not present obstacles for talented IT professionals. USAID has partnered with several American IT and ITC firms (like Google and Cisco) to help link them with Palestinian partners in order to give the companies better access to Arabic-speaking markets and to create new and better jobs for young Palestinians.

USAID Strikes “White Gold” and Helps Ensure Water Supply for Palestinians: USAID’s Infrastructure Needs Program registered three positive developments in a project that will over time help ensure that 800,000 Palestinians have access to more and better water sources. In the most exciting development, the Project drilled over 900 meters down and discovered a high-quality water source that, once connected, will provide fresh water for 66,000 people in Bethlehem and Hebron. The project also completed the construction of a reservoir and 13 kilometers of pipelines in South Hebron and delivered a high-performance, mobile water rig to the Palestinian Water Authority in order to give it the capacity to clean and service the 58 wells that provide much of the West Banks’s water.

Women Take Majority in West Bank Municipality’s First Youth Council: In establishing its first ever youth shadow council last week, the Municipality of Abu Dies set two milestones by being the first municipality to take ownership of the process of establishing its Youth Council and by being the first municipality where young women took the majority (winning nine of the thirteen seats in the council). USAID’s Local Democratic Reform program had already introduced ten Youth Councils in other partner municipalities.

USAID helped nearly 70,000 in Gaza to Weather Winter: USAID’s Civic Engagement Program provided food, winter clothing and supplies for impoverished families in Gaza.  The $4.5 million in assistance, provided through a network of six grantees, also paid school fees for poor families so that their children could stay in school.

Young Entrepreneurship Development Program for Palestinian Youth:  In a sign of joint commitment to improving prospects for Palestinian youth, representatives of the Palestinian Authority, Consul General Daniel Rubinstein and over 150 participants from civil society, the business sector and universities joined USAID and its partner the International Youth Foundation to launch the new four-year initiative. The Youth Entrepreneurship Development program will help young people between 14-29 years of age gain the appropriate skills, knowledge and attitudes they need to secure jobs or to start their own businesses.