Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) - Tomorrow’s Youth Organization

Eight Years of Transforming Lives:

QFFD–Tomorrow’s Youth Organization Partnership Empowers Over 27,000 Palestinians

Since 2017, the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) and Tomorrow’s Youth Organization (TYO) have built one of the most impactful and enduring development partnerships in Palestine. Over eight years, this collaboration has directly supported more than 27,000 children, youth, and women, positively affecting over 135,000 people through education, mental health, youth employment, and women empowerment.

What began as a shared commitment to inclusive, sustainable development has grown into a comprehensive, community-driven model that builds resilience, restores dignity, and creates opportunity for some of Palestine’s most marginalized communities. Through the Bokrah 1 and Bokrah 2 initiatives, QFFD has invested more than $8 million, building resilience and economic sustainability in Palestinian communities through periods of profound humanitarian, economic, and political crisis.

A Partnership Rooted in Sustainable Impact

In 2008, TYO Founder Hani Hikmat Masri opened the doors to the first American nonprofit based in Nablus, Palestine, establishing Tomorrow’s Youth Organization as a long-term, community-rooted partner. Built hand-in-hand with the communities it serves, TYO’s model responds to interconnected challenges—including poverty and unemployment, a growing mental health and health crisis, and barriers to education—through an integrated approach designed to restore dignity and bring hope.

Centered at TYO’s flagship community center in Nablus, the QFFD and TYO partnership responds to interconnected needs through a holistic, locally led approach. Over a period marked by economic decline, aid reductions, COVID-19, and escalating conflict, this partnership has provided consistent, high-quality support when it was needed most. It exemplifies Qatar’s commitment to sustainable development and solidarity with the most vulnerable communities facing conflict and fragile settings.

Together, these results highlight a transformative investment in people and communities, advancing education, livelihoods, mental well-being, and economic opportunity for the most disadvantaged.

From Tomorrow’s Youth Organization, Raffoul Saadeh noted that

“this partnership helped keep hope alive in moments when families felt forgotten. QFFD helped us keep our doors open for the most vulnerable, keep children learning, and ensured people didn’t have to carry their pain in silence… In doing so, it protected something even more fragile: peace of mind. Because that peace is built when a child feels safe, a young person finds work instead of despair, and a family gets the support to heal.”

Investments have delivered tangible results:

13,052 children and adolescents supported through academic development, social-emotional learning, and expanded access to higher education for marginalized learners
1,776 youth strengthened job readiness and gained sustainable employment
1,553 youth equipped with employability and entrepreneurship training
2,000 women supported with empowerment programs focused on wellness, parenting, and family resilience
4,807 individuals received integrated home-based rehabilitation, psychotherapy, social work, and case management services
1,785 caregivers and educators trained in mental health and psychosocial support
46 higher-education 4-year scholarships awarded
109 youth and women-led businesses funded with microfinance grants of up to 15,000 usd each

Responding to an Unprecedented Crisis

Palestinian communities across the West Bank have faced a deepening crisis that has compounded longstanding vulnerabilities. The escalation of conflict has worsened conditions in the communities TYO serves. Household incomes have collapsed amid surging unemployment and shuttered businesses, pushing families to the brink of survival. Widespread food insecurity has evolved into a humanitarian emergency, while severe disruptions to education and a profound mental health crisis affect all ages.

Amid this escalating hardship, the QFFD–TYO partnership has emerged as a critical stabilizing force. While many international donors have reduced support, QFFD’s sustained commitment has enabled TYO to remain a trusted and consistent presence. The partnership has adapted rapidly, balancing emergency response with long-term development. TYO has delivered emergency food assistance, essential supplies, and dignified cash support to families in acute need. It has ensured educational continuity for children whose schooling has been disrupted and significantly expanded mental health services to help individuals and families process trauma and maintain cohesion. Economic empowerment initiatives have become even more vital, offering pathways to income and self-reliance as traditional opportunities disappear. TYO’s center in Nablus itself serves as a rare space of safety, stability, and normalcy.

A Model of Integrated, Adaptive Development

Throughout these challenges, the partnership has demonstrated exceptional flexibility, deploying remote learning during COVID-19 and expanding crisis response amid intensifying conflict while maintaining core services. Its integrated model creates multiplier effects that strengthen entire communities and is aligned with key UN Sustainable Development Goals, including quality education (SDG 4), gender equality (SDG 5), decent work (SDG 8), reduced inequalities (SDG 10), & effective partnerships (SDG 17).

Looking Ahead: A Moral and Development Imperative

From a child entering early childhood education, to a young entrepreneur launching a business, to a mother gaining confidence and skills, this partnership creates ripples of hope that extend far beyond Nablus. In a time when many have turned away, QFFD’s steadfast support sends a clear message: Palestinian lives matter, Palestinian futures matter, and hope must endure, even in the darkest times.

The QFFD–TYO partnership proves that sustained, community-based investment is both a moral imperative and a sound development strategy, especially in crisis. Education prevents a lost generation, economic opportunity reduces despair, and mental health support preserves social cohesion. The partnership succeeds because it is locally driven, responsive, and grounded in dignity, treating the most marginalized Palestinians as individuals with potential and the capacity to shape their own futures. Key priorities moving forward include expanding reach to serve more vulnerable families, strengthening the synergy between emergency response and long-term development, scaling economic empowerment and mental health services, and documenting this proven model for wider learning. Through these innovative, integrated approaches, the QFFD-TYO partnership is advancing the humanitarian field.