Activities

In 2006 PCPD implemented almost all of its programs successfully. Although the some of our projects ended in June, donors agreed to extend their projects in order for us to successfully continue delivering on our promise. Only 3 activities in the strategic peace project had to be delayed until 2007 due to late payment by the donor. In total PCPD activities had 13,217 participants, of which 6913 were female (52 %). The total number of beneficiaries is estimated at 250,000.

Program 1: the Civil Society and Democracy Program

The Civil Society and Democracy program aims at spreading the principles of democracy and the implementation of these in and by Palestinian civil society. The PCPD views the internal use of democracy and transparency in Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) as a prerequisite for a wider respect of democracy and increasing the success and trustworthiness of CSOs in Palestine. Free discussion, participatory decision-making, accountability and respect for each other’s opinion are the goal of this program which consists of three projects. 

- Empowerment of civil society and Community Based Organisations

- PCPDs annual conference: “Participatory Democracy”

- Opening of regional offices – "Bridges to Palestinian Youth"

Project 1: Empowerment of civil society and Community Based Organisations  

Aims: This project aimed to raise awareness amongst Palestinians about the importance of civic engagement and citizenship in the form of active involvement in Community Based Organisations or other Civil Society Organisations (CSOs). In promoting this active citizenship in organisations, the project activities are designed to educate participants about the rules and by-laws guiding democratically based organisations. The project intends to increase the level of internal democracy and the number of democratically governed organisations in civil society. This highly successful project has run from July 2004 to July 2006. 

Project activities and indicators of performance

The project activities consist of a set of workshops, encounters between decision-makers and the general public and training courses on the district level. In 2006, two emergency training courses were held to underline the importance and principles of civil society under adverse circumstances. The table below shows the number of different activities.  

Table of activities 1/1/2006 – 30/6/2006 (Empowerment of CSOs and CBOs)

Workshops were attended by 35 participants each (male and female)

 The district-level trainings included the following topics: 

- Electoral systems                   - Election quota for women

- Concepts of Democracy          - Civil Society and Democracy

- Micro Project Management    - Project Planning

- Management Cycle                  - Participatory Democracy

- Strategic Planning                   - Networking

- Participatory Appraisal          - Communication Skills

- Needs Assessment                  - Fundraising

- Responsible Civil Society

Out of these topics the participating CBOs chose their favourite 5 to be dealt with in the training seminars, this was done in order to increase flexible response to the different organisations’ needs.

Project 2: PCPD’s annual conference: “Participatory Democracy” 

PCPD’s 10^th annual conference was held in Jerusalem. The conference focussed on the importance of participatory democracy and a vibrant civil society in this city in order to maintain Jerusalem as the future capital of an independent Palestine. Next to this, the conference issued a declaration called "People from Jerusalem Address the Palestinian Parties", which was published in Palestinian newspapers. This declaration called for an end to internal strife and a refocus of positive attention towards and ending of the Israeli occupation. The conference booklet that focussed on participatory democracy was distributed in a number of 2000 copies. An important indicator for the success of this conference has been the intensified call among civil society organisations in Jerusalem to cooperate with organisations in the West Bank in order to jointly work on projects and activities; this are now being followed up.

Project 3: Opening of regional offices – Bridges to Palestinian Youth 

Aim: Although PCPD had been successfully working in the different regions of the West Bank for several years, 2006 saw a breakthrough in further enhancing and stabilising of our presence and activities on the regional level. Especially after the deterioration of economic, social and security circumstances, combined with a further curtailment of free access and movement in the first quarter of 2006, the centre’s field coordinators pressed for regional offices that could become central meeting places and information points for our target groups as well as providing the staff with an office to work from. In order to facilitate the opening of these offices Cordaid agreed to fund these as part of their partnership in strengthening the Centre and our reach in society. It is important to mention here that the opening of the regional offices (in the cities) has in no way negatively impacted our work and presence in the rural areas, where our presence has remained high. 

Activities: In 2006 three regional offices were opened: in Bethlehem, Jenin and Tulkarm. Next to this a training hall was added to the Ramallah headquarters. These regional offices were fitted out to a high standard and commenced activity in mid-August, mid-August, September and July, respectively.    

 The activities conducted in the offices consisted of the following: 

A-     Book Discussions: Follow-up groups from different CBOs chose books that represented a need or interest for them in relation to PCPD’s field of work. After having read them, participants would come together to discuss these books in order to relate the issues at hand to their own lives and discuss possibilities to work with the topics on a CBO or regional level. Most of the books that were discussed treated subjects such as the future of democracy, globalisation, the Palestinian political system, elections, citizenship and tolerance. 

B-     A Monthly meeting for CBO representatives that are part of the CBOs Network and with others not in the Network but willing to join. During these meetings, CBO representatives discussed the situation facing their localities, and the constraints and opportunities in their work. The meetings served as an opportunity for benchmarking and increased ties between actors in civil society; by exchanging experiences and advising each other, knowledge and trust were built.    

C-      Sessions for the political parties were held, during which they discussed the role of political parties on the national and district level. Specific attention was paid to pressuring the leadership and decision-makers and increasing accountability towards the electorate. The political parties welcomed these meetings at the PCPD halls, as they prefer to meet at a neutral place, or not at all.  

D-     Sessions on the principles of democracy and the importance of the civil society: These sessions were held to encourage the participants to become part of the democratic change in Palestine and to alert them of the importance of being members in the civil society sector. 

E-      Sessions for PCPD supporters: This category is comprised of the overall availability of contact and discussion at the regional centres. PCPD coordinators and other employees have the ability to be more readily and easily available to individual supporters, beneficiaries or groups thereof. One of the ways in which these sessions function is that informal meetings are held in order to discuss current needs and problems in people’s daily lives, in order to organise activities relevant to these indicated needs later on in the month. A significant example of the possibility these sessions provide came during the teacher’s strike in the second half of 2006; based on the wishes of parents, the Centre held activities to assist parents in helping their own children keep up with schoolwork, and to inform them about the importance of going into discussion with decision-makers when interests are in danger.    

F-      Sessions with citizens on the needs of the poor and marginalized areas in the cities: The primary aim of these sessions is to help people identify their needs in a constructive way; to voice their wishes in order to address the right organisations and then to try and reach these organisations, whether they are Palestinians or international. 

G-     Sessions with the local government representatives: sessions were held between with citizens and representatives of local government. Here citizens were given the chance to raise questions about their every day problems and question the representatives about their promises. 

In total 104 meetings were held in the new centres

Program 2: The Palestinian Peace Program 

The peace program aims to consolidate the ideology, culture and values of an equitable peace for Palestine based on the Palestinian Declaration of Independence of 1988. Part of this program is also the monitoring of elections. 

In 2006 this program resulted in the organisation of 3 conferences on Palestinian Independence day, and the successful reintroduction of the Palestinian declaration of Independence to the political discourse after almost two decades of absence. An indicator of our success here was the great numbers of people asking for copies of the Declaration and wishing to attend the workshops in this program. It was even proposed to create stone versions of the Declaration to be erected as monuments in Jenin and Jericho.    

During the 2006 elections the PCPD was involved in The Election Monitoring Civil Committee (EMCC)and successfully encouraged people to act as monitors in their communities.  

Program 3: capacity building program

This program aims to develop the capabilities of PCPD staff and enhance their capacities in all issues related to our work.  

During 2006, the first draft of the improved training manual was issued and the information within the training programs was upgraded. 6 training seminars for trainers were held. Next to this thePCPD introduced new forms to be used by our field staff in order to better report on financial matters and the implementation of the projects.  

We have successfully increased the attention given to Community Based Organisations by cooperating with Ma'an centre; we have approved 8 applications in our small grants scheme and trained CBOs in their financial and administrative management.  

Program 4: Youth Program

This program aims at activating the political role of youth regarding the democratic process and aims to educate and empower young Palestinian men and women to face the current political challenges, be active citizens and successfully assert their rightful place in society.

 In 2006 young Palestinians united by the PCPD Friends Committee, and other interested and qualified youth participated in the Election Monitoring on the 25^th of January 2006.

The number of members of the PCPD Friends Committee increased substantially, mainly due to increased female membership. The Friends Committee was successful in collecting 60,000 signatures for the "Palestinian People's Call", an open letter in which an end to the international sanctions regime and respect for the rights of Palestinians was demanded. The letter was distributed to the PNA president, the prime minister, all municipal councils, foreign embassies and representative offices in Ramallah and Jerusalem and to the European Parliament through its progressive alliance.  

Program 5: Women's Program 

Two women's conferences were held in Jenin and Qalqilya. The conferences were entitled "real life and challenges" and were attended by 350 representatives of women's organisations. Of these conferences 2000 booklets were distributed all over the West Bank and Jerusalem.

PCPD extended its empowerment program for women's CBO leaders to include all districts of the West Bank. All of the Women's organisations that we work with now have had internal elections, official bank accounts and a transparent administrative and financial administration.  

It is important to note that the membership of women's organisations has increased all over the West Bank, which has also increased the number of participants in PCPD activities.  

Publications in 2006 

- The Arabic version of the 2005 Annual Report

- The English version of the 2005 Annual Report 

- Booklet on the Jerusalem conference on "Participatory Democracy"

- Booklets from the Women's conferences

- Publishing 3 new books:
     . PDI DAY
     . Women Conference
     . UNR 1325