Funded By: European Union

Partners in action: Bedu Municipality, Hizma Municipality and Palestinian Youth Union

Period of Action: 30 months (Started from Feb. 2018)

Main Focus: Bedu & Hizma

The action is focusing on two main villages (Hizma and Bedu) but including other 13 villages as total number of target villages, the villages are considered part of Jerusalem governorate but outside the wall, They are all characterised by being villages very close to the Separation Wall, or surrounded by Israeli settlements or other closures, and based in C Area. After the closure of Israeli market the unemployment rate reached between 45% to 65% and the poverty rate in some of them has reached 70%. Limited access to water, lack of infrastructure, health facilities and social services are also common issues and school dropout is another social consequence of this hard situation mostly affecting the youth and women. To react to this situation in the last year’s investments were made to empower LAs but mainly focus on infrastructure development, not taking into consideration the need of empowering the LAs themselves. Or equipping them to meet the needs of the community.

LAs are playing the role of service providers, but facing internal problem mainly in the issues of good governance, management, gender equality and community participation, the majority of the LAs don’t have administrative or financial procedures, nor do have policies on gender and anticorruption, more over the majority have any strategic plans, and have the basic communication with their communities.

The action will respond to the needs of the LAs in the targeted area through activities that improve institutional and operational capacities of LAs in Area C in executing their political, institutional and operational mandate, also enhancing their capacities for effectively deliver public services, that will lead for better community participation and enhanced cooperation with near villages. The two municipalities will create strategic plans, manuals, and policies, they will be able to include technology in their systems, and open service centers. Also will enhance the CSOs activities, and open public spaces. The action is focusing on women participation and give a good space of its activities to enhance the role of women and raise awareness in gender equality.

Also, it will contribute on building more democratic society through the enhancement of cooperation between CBOs, civil society and local authorities, which will directly and positively be reflected on the daily life of youth and women in the targeted areas.

The project is built on real needs for the two areas and the two municipalities, the two municipalities are allocated in C area, where lack in services provided to the people is noticeable, and poor institutional and technical capacities of the municipalities is clear. Studies shows clearly the importance of investment in municipalities allocated in area C due to huge responsibilities on the LAs and poor resources. The action will leave clear and sustainable impact on the target groups and final beneficiaries through the technical and management capacities development activities, the municipalities will benefit from deferent technical and management enhancement training beside fill the lacks in equipment which will reflected positively on the population of the whole area. The municipalities will develop their administrative and financial systems and create Public Service Center which will facilitate reaching the services to the people.

The youth, women and civil society organisations in the two villages will benefit from training courses and capacity building program, also LAs in the near area will be included in the activities and participate in training courses.