On Tuesday 18th of October the following six human rights and good governance NGOs signed grant implementation agreements at the Human Rights and Good Governance Secretariat – hosted by the NGO Development Centre (NDC): Jerusalem Community Advocacy Network (JCAN), Women’s Centre of Shu’ufat Refugee Camp (WSC), Palestinian Youth Association for Leadership and Rights Activation (PYALARA), Young Women Christian’s Association (YWCA), AFKAR for Educational and Cultural Development and the Community Media Centre (CMC). The ceremony took place at NDCs Al-Ram headquarters in the presence of Ghassan Kasabreh (NDC Director), Jamileh Sahlieh (Grants Program Manager), Shadi Qare’ (Finance and Admin Manager) and representatives of the six NGOs concerned.
The small grants facility was designed to provide the Human Rights and Good Governance Secretariat with a mechanism by which swift and effective financial support could be provided to organisations responding to issues of immediate concern to the human rights and good governance sector.
Totalling $327,001, these grants will promote and protect the human rights of marginalised youth, refugees and women in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Jerusalem. In particular, JCAN and WSC will support vulnerable Palestinian youth; victims of institutional violence and those suffering the debilitating environment of Shu’ufat refugee camp respectively. PYALARA and AFKAR are targeting empowerment structures for young people – PYALARA will be training youth human rights and good governance advocates in five underprivileged villages in the Jerusalem governate and AFKAR integrating the Palestinian Debate Forum Competition in twenty schools throughout the West Bank. Finally, YMCA are continuing crucial practical support for women’s rights in Jerusalem and CMC will be providing audio-visual documentation of youth rights violations in the Gaza Strip.
The Human Rights and Good Governance Secretariat is managed by NDC on behalf of four European donors - namely Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands. The funding is a continuation of their support to the sector and aims to harmonise and channel financial and technical assistance with the overall development objective of improving human rights and good governance practices throughout the occupied Palestinian territories.
In this case the six recipient organisations are diverse, but each share a commitment to instituting sustainable change throughout Palestinian society. The Human Rights and Good Governance Secretariat is passionately committed to supporting the significant contribution independent Palestinian NGOs make to the cause of universal human rights and good governance.
