“PACES” was founded in June of 2006 with the central aim of providing healthy, structured after-school sports programs for Palestinian girls and boys: For Boys who would otherwise be on the streets and exposed to extremism and violence, and for girls as a means of getting them out of their homes and into programs that would empower them...  

Our starting points were the football pitches and the basketball courts where we launched our first sets of programs in November of 2006. These programs provided activities for over 400 children at six locations centered mainly in the Jerusalem, Bethlehem and the Ramallah areas.

PACES’ after-school programs and activities run three days a week where the main focus is the football and basketball coaching sessions. Our work is concentrated in and around the most marginalized communities, refugee camps and remote villages across Palestine thus reaching the most vulnerable and needy children between the ages of eight and sixteen.  PACES partners with local and international NGOs to provide the children with workshops and exposure beyond the sports to teach them issues that are lacking in their life.

 As we celebrate our fourth anniversary, PACES is currently providing football and basketball coaching and other non-sport activities to over 5,775 children at 57 locations in cities and towns all over Palestine; from Jenin, Nablus and Tulkarem in the north, to Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Ramallah in the center, to Hebron and Gaza in the south.

Our programs and activities provide an escape for the children of Palestine, an escape from being idle on the streets, an escape that is fun and is healthy, and an escape that could potentially encourage excellence in an area long-ignored by our culture. We create programs that encourage team-work and stress the importance of work ethics through commitment to sports and to practice. Our programs are open equally to girls and boys as PACES requires 50% female participation

As PACES and its projects and programs grow, and as funding increases, we will provide those children whose skills and dedication stand out, with further opportunities to excel. Those girls and boys who demonstrate unique and outstanding talents would be rewarded with the chance to develop their skills further by being enrolled in foreign sports academies and schools.

Finally, PACES’ programs have created employment and will continue to do so. Our fourth sets of programs created jobs for over 459 coaches and assistant coaches. Furthermore, we have secured long-term strategic partnerships with foreign entities and corporations such as MercyCorps and NIKE, and on the local side with a plethora of companies that play an active part in all aspects of our programs.