Ibtikar developed its Theory of Change as a critical pillar for realizing Ibtikar Strategy (2020-2023). Ibtikar also developed this theory to explore what needs to happen to ensure that children and youth are fully empowered to address their society’s needs. For this reason, the ToC is used as a tool by Ibtikar as a critical starting point to guide and define the strategies for collective impact, by explicitly considering youth, children, and women inclusion.

The theory illustrates the overarching avenues through which children and youth are already creating change, what needs to happen to enable this further, and the various roles different actors need to play to generate broader societal change. The ToC is a live document and will be modified and improved as we learn how best to support Palestinian people.

Ibtikar’s Meta-ToC identified three critical paths for supporting Palestinian people to enable collective impact: Empowerment, Civic-Engagement, SDGs, Education, Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship, and Advocacy. It is important to note that there is no sequence or priority between the paths, accountability occurs in both directions as well as between actors, and none of the paths  are designed as standalone approaches. In this way, our vision of change (detailed above) is achieved through an enabling environment and internal empowerment that can create positive, fair, and sustainable change.  

A feature of the ToC is that the key to achieving change involves Ibtikar and its main stakeholders establish strategic connections between the three tracks. That is, for change to indeed occur at all levels (from the grassroots to national to the global) vital connections must be based on a shared vision while considering how each path is relatable, and how long-term change is achievable.