How Palestinian civic actors continue to build agency and hope
As war continues to impact everyday life in the occupied Palestinian territory, civic space is under growing pressure. Movement is restricted, while fear and surveillance are part of daily reality. Public trust in institutions also continues to erode. Amid these challenges, Palestinian civil society organizations are still working persistently to ensure that people, especially the most marginalized, have the power and support to shape their lives.
One of these organizations is the Palestinian Association for Empowerment and Local Development (REFORM), a partner in Hivos’ Connect, Defend, Act! program. Even as civic space systematically shrinks, REFORM has shown strength to create and sustain spaces where participation and community agency remain possible.
Adapting to make a lasting impact in the occupied Palestinian territory
For many Palestinians, civic space is simply the ability to move between cities, to meet safely, to speak openly, and to participate in community decision-making. Since October 2023, heightened surveillance, movement restrictions, and growing insecurity have directly affected who can gather, when and how. These conditions have had a disproportionate impact on youth, women, and other marginalized groups, whose access to public life was already limited.
At the same time, distrust toward NGOs has deepened in some communities, particularly in refugee camps where repeated crises have left people wary of outside interventions. Civic work in this context requires not only resources but also long-term relationships, credibility, and a deep understanding of local realities.
Despite these conditions, REFORM has not stopped working. Instead, it has adapted to circumstances. In addition to centralized teams, the organization works through a trained network of local youth and women mobilizers embedded in communities across the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. When staff are unable to travel due to security risks or restrictions, these mobilizers continue activities on the ground. When attacks escalate, REFORM has emergency plans so projects can continue safely by adjusting logistics, working methods, and purchasing processes. This decentralized flexible approach has made it possible to sustain civic action even in these untenable conditions.
From dialogue to agency
At the heart of REFORM’s work under the Connect, Defend, Act! program are its Cultural Cafés. These are community meetings where women and young people discuss social, political, and economic issues affecting their communities. The cafés are physical spaces where facilitated conversations ensure equal participation.
In the past year alone, more than 70 Cultural Cafés have taken place across the West Bank. In refugee camps, these spaces are often the only places where people feel safe enough to speak and reflect together. Looking back on his experience, one young participant said that “through the Cultural Cafés, I have experienced significant personal and community growth. I have gained the confidence to engage with committees and advocate for youth inclusion, no longer hesitant to speak up or claim our rights.”
What distinguishes the Cultural Cafés is not just the conversation but also what comes after it. Participants identify shared challenges, co-design responses, and in some cases directly engage with local decision-making bodies. In refugee camps, where young people have long felt excluded from governance structures, the cafés have helped participants build the confidence to articulate their priorities and approach popular committees and community leaders.
Taking on mental health
In other locations, the spaces have taken on an unexpected additional role. Following repeated military raids, displacement fears, and uncertainty about the future, several Cultural Cafés (particularly in northern areas of the West Bank such as Jenin and Nablus) have evolved into informal psychosocial support spaces. In the absence of adequate mental health services, the simple act of gathering, speaking, and being heard has become an essential form of collective care.
Reflecting on this shift, REFORM’s Head of Development and Communications Unit, Hala Morrar, explains that “the Cultural Café is a safe, interactive civic space that bridges social gaps between different groups in society, enabling young people to discuss the challenges they face, build both individual and collective skills, and strengthen their participation and living conditions.”
Working in refugee camps is never straightforward, but REFORM’s ability to operate in these spaces is the result of long-term presence and consistent engagement. For more than eight years, the Association has worked at both grassroots and decision-making levels, building strong relationships with women’s centers, popular committees, youth groups, and local institutions. This trust has not been acquired quickly, and it remains fragile, but it is essential for meaningful civic engagement.
Collective action through Connect, Defend, Act! in Palestine
Through its partnership with Hivos, REFORM has expanded this work beyond individual communities to the national level. The program has enabled the creation of a coalition of diverse Palestinian civil society actors, including youth-led organizations, women’s organizations, and research institutions. Together, coalition members are working to document the realities of shrinking civic space, align strategies, and respond collectively to emerging challenges.
Recent milestones include a joint assessment of civic space and a strategic planning workshop that resulted in a shared three-year strategy and one-year action plan. While collaboration does not eliminate risk, it strengthens coordination, amplifies local voices, and reduces isolation among civil society actors working under pressure.
Hope in practice
When asked where they find hope in such a difficult context, REFORM’s team does not point to intangible optimism. Instead, they speak about persistence, resilience, and taking work one day at a time.
Hope, in this sense, is not passive. It is practiced by showing up, maintaining dialogue, and sustaining spaces where people can imagine alternatives to their current reality. Civic spaces, however modest, restore a sense of power and the possibility of collective action.
This work does not offer easy solutions. Civic space in Palestine remains under severe strain, and the risks faced by communities continue to grow. Yet these efforts show that even in times of war, civic engagement does not disappear; it adapts.
For Hivos and its partners, the focus remains on supporting locally led initiatives that strengthen civil society’s ability to endure, respond, and imagine a more just future.
