In cooperation with the Belgian Development Cooperation, the Palestinian Association of Local Authorities (APLA) held a workshop entitled “APLA’s Vision on Promoting Regional Cooperation.” This workshop is part of the meetings held for what is called Ard Laboratory, which includes six partners: Khalet Al-Miyeh village council, the Joint Services Council for Planning and Development – East Bethlehem, Barta’a, Bani Zeid Al-Gharbiya, Beit Liqia Joint Services Council, and the First Joint Services Council Jorat Amra.
APLA’s Executive Manager, Eng. Abdullah Anati, clarified that APLA seeks to build on the current experiences in order to develop a national policy to promote regional cooperation through providing local authorities with legal and administrative support, exchange of expertise, supporting individual and collective initiatives as well as facilitating understandings and partnerships to realize the maximum benefit for all relevant parties.
Eng. Anati stressed that APLA seeks to make “Ard” initiative a platform to exchange expertise and develop a joint history that embodies the experiences and achievements of local authorities, provided that this platform is the main pillar that enables citizens to protect their land and supports their representatives in overcoming obstacles.
In another context, the joint councils presented in this workshop the group of challenges and obstacles they have faced since Ard initiative was launched. The participants clarified all the opportunities they were provided through the regular meetings held to share achievements, expertise and experiences.
Eng. Anati noted that APLA’s main role in this initiative is to facilitate arriving at understandings and agreements on joint work in order to ensure implementation and commitment between local authorities as well as to realize the maximum benefit on both the individual and collective levels. The participants closed the workshop by discussing the details of the activities they implemented throughout Ard initiative. Each participant presented recommendations for the coming period, considering it will be a new phase for the program through which APLA seeks to expand the targeted category and promote cooperation and partnership between local authorities in Palestine.
It is worth noting that this workshop is part of a series of workshops held to ensure the sustainability of “Ard Initiative,” knowing that it is an outcome of “Capacity Building in Crisis Situations in Area C Initiative (Ard),” which is funded by the Development and Reform of Local Governance program implemented by the Belgian Development Cooperation and the European Union.
