Etgarim seeks to enable children and adults with special needs to realise their potential, to enhance their skills and to integrate into society. The organisation was founded in 1995 by a group of disabled Israel Defence Force veterans, disabled civilians and rehabilitation experts. Their work is done via outdoor training and adventure therapy which takes places within challenging environments found in nature. Click here to learn more about Etgarim.

The Peres Centre for Peace is Israel’s leading non-profit organisation promoting peace building between Israel and its Arab neighbours. The organisation was founded in 1996 by the President of Israel and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shimon Peres, and conducts dozens of projects, involving thousands of Israelis and Palestinians, Jews and Arabs, fostering socio-economic cooperation and people-to-people interaction. Click here to learn more about The Peres Centre for Peace

Unistream was started in order to reduce socio-economic gaps in Israeli society. Their main focus is to empower youth from resource-scarce environments who demonstrate potential to excel in leadership in society and the business world. Among their activities, they provide a unique three year junior M.B.A. programme, which encourages the development of these young people as leaders in social action and business entrepreneurship in their local communities and throughout Israel. Click here to learn more about Unistream

During their visit, the Israeli NGOs also had the opportunity to present their work to UK media outlets and the Jewish community. Those non-profit organisations are very representative of the growing influence of civil society in Israel, which aims at inducing significant changes in people’s lives and helping individuals to cope with challenges from a grass-roots level