The Ministry of Local Government, in cooperation with the Belgian Development Agency, has completed four different training workshops in the past weeks.

The first one was a workshop on the Strategic Development Planning Manual (SDIP/ACIP) in the presence of 33 participants of the project, the ministry, and directorates of the West Bank governorates. Strategic planning plays an important role in promoting the Palestinian society and in contributing to local economic development.  

The workshop, which took place over 2 days and counted 12 training hours, focused on the participants’ understanding of the concept, objectives, and principles of strategic development planning and on providing them with the knowledge and skills to use the SDIP manual.  

The second workshop was an orientation workshop on empowering female members of Local Councils in the local government sector. The ministry is keen on giving elected members the opportunity to demonstrate their skills in the councils.  

The Assistant Undersecretary of the ministry, Mr. Ahmed Ghoneim, emphasized the role of women in general and their role in the local government in particular. Mr. Raed Barghouthi, the Director General of the local rule of Ramallah, praised the work of the elected members of the local councils and of the Ministry of Local Government, represented by Minister Hussein Al-Aaraj, for their relentless efforts to let local bodies be in direct contact with citizens.  

The following topics were addressed in the workshop: women rights and duties, the importance of their participation in decision making, accountability principles and their participation in urban planning from a gender perspective. Furthermore, a number of female council members elected in the last period had a chance to tell more about their success stories, challenges and lessons learned.  

The third workshop was dedicated to the financial management of the LGSIP program for the village councils and joint service councils benefiting from the program. Ensuring that the accountants are up to date on the requirements and financial procedures of the program is part of the ministry’s plan to enable local bodies to provide the best services to their citizens.  

The fourth workshop targeted the civil affairs employees and General Directorate Managers in the planning system and addressed the use of maps and law dimensions.

Deputy Minister Mr. Mohammad Hassan Jabarin opened the session by welcoming the 35 participants and he praised the coordination and cooperation mechanism between both ministries of civil affairs and the MoLG. He encouraged both to continue working together to improve the situation of marginalized groups in Area C.

At the end, the participants prepared recommendations for the next step focusing on institutionalizing the work by the different parties.  

Dooa Qutub, Engineer and representative of the Belgian Development Agency attended all workshops implemented in the last period. She also evaluated the workshop with the participants, in full coordination with MoLG direct beneficiaries, to ensure the objectives were met and a follow-up mechanism was put in place.