Amaal Zamaareh, the Vice President of Halhoul Youth Shadow Local Council (YLC) had the courage to suggest swapping roles with the Minister of National Economy, Dr. Hasan Abu Libdeh during one of the discussions at a USAID-sponsored Palestinian Youth Summit held in September, 2011. To her surprise, the Minister welcomed this idea and agreed to host Amaal in the Ministry of National Economy for one week as the 'shadow Minister’. Amaal who just graduated from college stated, “Starting my career path as a shadow Minister was a great opportunity and a big challenge at the same time. Since I represented the network of 12 YLCs, I need to show everyone that we deserve this recognition and will work very hard to be a model of success.” Youth Local Councils are an initiative established under the Local Democratic Reform Program (LDR), and now continued under the Local Government and Infrastructure Program (LGI), both implemented by CHF International with funding from USAID. The YLCs offer local youth an opportunity to develop and apply governance skills at the local level.