The Association of Palestinian Local Authorities (APLA) held an introductory and hands-on training on the “Baladiyah Meter” platform, with the participation of representatives from nine local government units, including planning, monitoring, and relevant technical departments. The training comes within APLA’s ongoing efforts to advance digital transformation in municipal work and to promote more efficient and transparent performance-tracking tools.

“Baladiyah Meter” is an innovative digital platform that supports digital community engagement by providing clear and updated information on local authorities’ strategic and development plans, as well as progress and achievement indicators. This helps enhance public trust and transforms performance follow-up into an interactive pathway that citizens and relevant stakeholders can access, review, and engage with. Internally, the platform enables municipalities to track progress in real time through a user-friendly dashboard, enter indicators in an organized manner, and generate periodic reports that support performance analysis, gap identification, and data-driven decision-making instead of relying on general estimates.

During the training, APLA’s Sustainable Development Projects Officer, Dr. Ahmad Jaber, presented the logic and methodology of the “Baladiyah Meter” platform as a digital tool designed to shift municipal plan monitoring from a largely estimative approach to one based on clear, updateable indicators. This approach supports municipalities in tracking progress continuously, identifying gaps and challenges, and producing periodic reports that strengthen decision-making and improve service quality. He emphasized that the platform was developed to support planning and monitoring teams—rather than add an extra burden or introduce a complex system—highlighting APLA’s commitment to providing user accounts, delivering specialized trainings, and offering guidance and technical support throughout implementation. He also noted that the platform will continue to be developed based on municipalities’ feedback and practical needs.

The platform is part of APLA’s broader efforts to promote good governance, transparency, accountability, and community engagement in local government work. It is implemented under the project “Strengthening Local Governance through Policy Frameworks and Community Engagement,” funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) through the Transparency, Evidence and Accountability (TEA) programme.