Activity Description: Small-scale economic initiatives may be the most promising option for job-seeking youth in the West Bank, where estimates of the unemployment rate range from 25 to 30 percent. And olive trees, an icon of the region, could provide the perfect products. The Palestinian territories are home to the equivalent of 200,000 football fields worth of olive trees, which provide fruits, cooking oil, moisturizing soap and wood for traditional carvings.

Mercy Corps gives rural youth, especially women, more opportunities to engage in these industries. Since May 2005, through its Phoenix Fund (which finances innovative economic-development projects developed by local entrepreneurs), MercyCorps has supported the Sharek Youth Forum, a respected local organization devoted to inspiring the next generation of community leaders. Their "Ghosoon" project aims to transform once-isolated women into savvy makers and marketers of upscale olive-oil products.

Sor far, 20 women from the outskirts of Ramallah have learned how to make and market olive-oil soap, cooking oil and herbs. These women then became stakeholders in a newly created line of olive-oil products that are landing prime shelf space in the West Bank and beyond, including four hotels and several supermarkets. The products have been shown at trade shows in Italy, France, and most recently Kuwait.