Abstract |
Palestine is a unique country. In some aspects the indicators of health, education and social services point to a country that can belong to middle level income countries with low mortality rates, with high expectation of life, with relatively high income and gross domestic product per capita and with almost universal education. And yet, in some other aspects, Palestine can be ranked at the lower scale of disadvantaged countries of the world with one of the highest fertility rates amongst women, with a high growth percentage rate, and with almost fifty percent of the population below 15 years of age and with one of the highest population densities per square kilometer in the Gaza Strip. In addition, Palestine is still coping with the yet unfinished question of war and peace. One can venture to state that Palestine has gone from a situation of certain conflict to a situation of an uncertain peace, and war where years of relative quiet have been followed by months of intense confrontations between Palestinians and Israelis. The attendant consequences of war and peace on the Palestinian economy and society cannot be underestimated, and they have definitely affected Palestinian youth and their outlook on life and the future. |