AJEEC-NISPED (Arab-Jewish Center for Empowerment, Equality, and Cooperation – Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Economic Development, in Arabic: أجيك – معهد النقب) is an Israeli-based organization for social change.
[1] The Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Economic Development (NISPED) was founded in 1997 by Dr. Yehuda Paz.
[citation needed] In 2011, co-executive directors of NISPED, Vivian Silver and Amal Elsana Alh'jooj, received the Victor J. Goldberg Prize for Peace in the Middle East from the Institute of International Education.
The project was suspended in 2007, following Hamas taking control of the Gaza Strip and the Israel government declaring a blockade on the border.
[13] The project brought together Israeli and Palestinian women entrepreneurs and craftspeople, who underwent training together to grow their businesses outside of their home territories.
[15] By 2011, AJEEC was offering services such as preschool programs, homework assistance and helping to re-enroll girls who had dropped out of school.
The program brought together Bedouin and Jewish junior high school students in both dialogue and cooperative projects.
[2] Following the 7 October attack on Israel, AJEEC responded to the needs of affected Bedouin residents, helping to fund bomb shelters, donate food, connect residents to Arabic-speaking organizations who assist in dealing with trauma, and organize programs for children.
The project provided various job trainings to promote positive relations between ethnic groups and community resiliency.