Corona Doubles the Local Authorities Work and responsibilities and APLA Plays its Supporting Role

03 Jun 2020

As typically the case is with local authorities; i.e. Municipalities, Village Councils and Joint Service Councils in fulfilling their duties towards the citizens, they immediately responded to the President's decision and the directives of the Prime Minister. APLA contacted the different local authorities to check their readiness in handling the emergency state we are undergoing, and has conducted a quick survey to assess the needs of these authorities in order to enable them to respond effectively to the current situation and better plan for the post-emergency phase. APLA issued a position paper about the impact of the “Coronavirus” pandemic on Palestinian local authorities and how they dealt with this pandemic and the challenges they faced and their most important needs and requirements. APLA determined the priority interventions to be worked on in post-Coronavirus, most importantly:

speed up the transfer of debts owed to local authorities by the government, and Providing emergency operational budgets for the local authorities.
Accelerate the development and activation of the transferal mechanism between the government and the local authorities, address problems associated to the debt accumulation of local authorities "net lending”
Allocate part of the public budget to local authorities in Palestine
Provide support to Local Government Units, especially in the field of disaster management and response
Strive to find creative solutions to solve the solid waste and medical waste problems
Continue to amend the laws and legislations system that regulate the local government sector
To direct funding towards local economic development projects and partnership projects between the private sector and the local authorities
Develop the dependence on technological means: in the provision of services and communication between citizens and local authorities
Launch community outreach programs and awareness campaigns targeting key and priority issues related to the work of local authorities

See More: Special Newsletter - "Covid-19” Virus Doubles the Local Authorities responsibilities across the Country

APLA has monitored distinguished initiatives the local authorities had implemented since the beginning of the crisis, which showed that the local authorities were able to step in and handle this emerging situation with utmost responsibility and national commitment to their citizens; local authorities never ceased to offer all their capacities, potentials and equipment to support the relevant ministries, governors, medical teams and emergency committees, despite the shortage in resources and the growing needs. Local authorities intensified the efforts to collect waste and preserve the public Hygiene, Sanitizing public areas and institutions, they played a leading role in providing assistance and support to citizens at various levels, and social responsibility was indeed on their agenda under this emergency situation through formation of the emergency and volunteer teams who providing Awareness Counselling and Support for Citizens, in addition to the resilience and challenge in the So- called Area "C".

As part of APLAs’ plan to provide support and assistance to local authorities in order to better manage their work under the emergency phase and to ensure the continued delivery of basic services to citizens, a number of proposals regarding mechanism of action of local authorities have been presented to ensure the safety of all staffs working in the field, APLA has worked with the government to follow the local authorities’ various needs, and has also coordinate with the donors to supply the Local Authorities with preventative equipments and materials to protect their front-line workers.

APLA also followed up the updates of the local authorities around the clock, disseminated the news as much as possible so as to shed light on the achievements and efforts of the teams working day and night for the well-being of our country and its citizen on the other hand. In the same context, APLA broadcasted several messages of support to the different local authorities through its intervallic and widely circulated media productions.