The Centre holds a dialogue meeting entitled "Towards a joint action plan for youth councils in local authorities for 2019"

 

The Palestinian Center for Democracy and Conflict Resolution, in partnership with the Norwegian People's Aid (NPA) office, held
a dialogue meeting entitled "Towards a joint action plan for youth councils in local authorities for 2019",
in the hall of Al-Nuseirat Municipality,
on Thursday 29 November 2018.
It was attended by the mayor of Al-Nuseirat Mr. Mohammed Abu Shukyan, the mayor of Al-Fukhari Dr. Suleiman Al-Amour, the head of public relations at Al-Maghazi Municipality Mr. Adeeb Abu Ghazal, and the head of the youth and environment department at Al-Zahra Municipality Eng. Alaa Al-Din Murad, along with the chairs and members of the elected youth councils in the local authorities.
Mr. Raed Saada opened the meeting by welcoming the guests and attendees, stressing the importance of the role of young people in political participation, commending the municipalities for their support to the youth councils, and emphasising the need to join efforts to make this a high-quality experience.
On behalf of the Palestinian Center for Democracy and Conflict Resolution, Ms. Samar Hamad, the Centre's lobbying and advocacy campaigns consultant, stressed the importance of the meeting and that its main purpose was to produce a joint committee and a joint plan to unify the work of the youth councils, since the results of the community scorecards that had been implemented showed that all the challenges and obstacles facing young people are similar. She stressed that all councils should prepare projects, plans and initiatives that suit their needs and priorities, and that the Centre would supervise and follow up and was ready to provide what is needed to make the youth councils' activities in the Gaza Strip a success.
In his address, the mayor of Al-Fukhari Dr. Suleiman Al-Amour stressed the role of young people and the need to give them the greatest importance in the work, and the importance of the youth council being established for the first time in the municipality. He also stressed the importance of the role of women, noting that the Al-Fukhari council is chaired by a young woman, the first in the Gaza Strip.

In his address, the mayor of Al-Nuseirat Mr. Mohammed Abu Shukyan welcomed those present and affirmed his support for projects concerning young people, noting that the municipality provides every support to young people as the backbone of society.
In his address, Mr. Adeeb Abu Ghazal stressed the municipality's interest in forming the council and spoke about the election experience and how democratically it proceeded, with attention to gender, stressing the importance of the council through the support of both the Centre and the municipality.
In his address, Eng. Alaa Abu Murad stressed the municipality's role in supporting the council, noting that Al-Zahra Municipality was the first to establish such councils and that the council had proved its role through the initiatives it has delivered.
The meeting concluded with a set of recommendations:
1. Developing a joint plan among the youth councils.
2. Unifying the work within the youth councils under the supervision of the municipalities and the Centre.
3. Holding a training workshop on the recommendations to formulate the joint plan for the councils' work.
4. Networking between the youth councils, local institutions and donors.
5. Providing support to all youth councils.
6. Providing a budget for the youth councils.
7. Follow-up by the Centre and the municipalities of the regular meetings on the councils' activities.