On Monday the 5th of March, Mrs. Danielle Haven, Consul General of Belgium, visited the local governance projects in Beit Leqya, Bani Zeid and Abud. In Beit Leqya she also celebrated the Palestinian Environment Day.

The day started with a meeting with Dr. Tawfiq Al-Budairy, Director General of the Municipal Development and Lending Fund (MDLF). During the meeting, MDLF presented their work and highlighted the cooperation with Enabel and Belgium, with whom they partner in the local governance & regeneration programs.

After the meeting, Mrs. Haven visited the Beit Leqya cluster to visit several projects implemented by the local governance project and to participate in the Palestinian Environment Day.

The Joint Services Council for Planning and Development (of Beit Leqya - Kharbatha Al-Misbah) celebrated the Palestinian Environment Day by organizing many environmental activities (since the 25th of February 2018): trainings for the schools’ environmental club students on the concept and techniques of recycling, drawing on school walls in order to educate students about environmental concepts, cultivating forest trees and cleaning up the streets around the schools, with the participation of more than 200 students from five secondary schools of the cluster.

Mrs. Haven celebrated the day together with the children of the cluster and she participated in cleaning the streets and painting on the walls of the school. “I am very happy to be here on this wonderful day. I am very impressed by the activities on this environmental day and by the beautiful environment of Beit Leqya. The collaboration between Enabel, the Ministry of Local Government, the Municipal Development and Lending fund (MDLF) and the Joint Services Council is excellent I am glad that I had the chance to see the different positive results they have reached through collaboration” she concluded.

After Beit Leqya, the Consul General continued to Bani Zeid – Dar Khattab where she met the mayor and the women community-based organization that’s operating one of the historical buildings restored by the RHC (Rehabilitation of Historic Centers) project.

The women organization works on grinding, freezing and drying traditional food products to sell them in the local market.

The day ended in ‘Abud with a visit to the regeneration projects in the village: the main plaza and the path to Al-Burbara archaeological site.