The Road to Resilience : Challenges, vulnerabilities and risks in the protection and empowerment of Palestinian refugee children

Abstract: This thesis aims to study what are the current protection challenges faced by Palestinian refugee children and their families in the context of the protracted crisis in the occupied territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Furthermore, this study will also look at how different factors influence on children's well-being, enabling or impeding to build their resilience under the ongoing adversarial circumstances. In addition, it will also analyse what mechanisms and strategies ensure the inclusive participation of Palestinian refugee children in their communities. Therefore, this thesis will use a mixed method approach, combining the outcomes of interviews that have been conducted with UNRWA personnel and the review of secondary sources. Two main theories will be used for the analysis of the research findings: Transactional-Ecological model and Social Ecology of Protection. The aim is to gain a better insight into how supportive environments and factors can be strengthened. As a consequence, it encourages Palestinian refugee children's ability to build resilience towards their social integration, which allows them to become actors of their own protection and be empowered.