An-Najah News - Mrs. Yara Salem, Director General of Welfare Association (Taawon) confirmed that the implementation of the Israeli annexation plan of settlements and valleys to Israeli will change the world after the Corona virus pandemic, and the global economic crises, will negatively impact the support provided from the association, which works to support civil society institutions and individuals inside Palestine and Refugee camps in Lebanon, to enhance their resilience.
It is noteworthy that (Taawon) is one of the leading Palestinian institutions in supporting basic Palestinians sectors in order to enhance their resilience, and it was created in conjunction with the Lebanon War in 1983 by Palestinian businessmen, Intellectual and writers with the aim of providing support to the Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza Strip ,especially at Education, health and social, sectors in light of the difficult circumstances that the Palestinian people lived since the occupation of Palestine and the displacement of its people by the Israeli occupation.
The political situation will negatively affect the support of Welfare Association
On the impact of the political situation on the work of the Association, Al-Salem affirmed in a special meeting with Al-Najah broadcasting channel that the current political situation is difficult and complicated which will affect funding, due to political situation affection to obtaining its funding from various Arab and international parties that are interested in supporting Palestine and the association projects.
She pointed out that "there will be an impact on the amount of funding if the annexation plan is implemented in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley, which will affect the size of programs, and thus will reduce them, and transfer them to certain sectors with a greater focus than the sectors that we currently support"
she added " the political situation will have a negative impact On the association
she explained the association 's sense of danger, caused working currently on its programs to be ready for any degree of risk situation.
This can be done if the association 's resources can be transferred to the health sector if there is an escalation in the political situation. And the programs will be transferred to the most important projects.
Sectors supported by (Taawon)
Al-Salem explained that (Taawon) focused most of its work since its inception 37 years ago on four main sectors, mainly the education sector, the health sector, the community development sector with its orphan assistance, and many projects related to empowering youth and women and the fourth sector is the city restoration. Old cities like Jerusalem, Nablus, Jenin and other archaeological areas that need rehabilitation and restoration.
The role of (Taawon) in supporting the education and health sector
She explained that (Taawon) has carried out many projects, which aim to build universities, schools throughout the country, qualify teachers, work on the Palestinian curriculum, send teachers to fellowship programs to learn abroad, gain foreign and global capabilities, and provide Palestinian students with experiences this came from the association beliefs that education is a basic message we need in Palestine to support our resilience in a way we can share our experiences, knowledge.
Al-Salem continued that (Taawon) supported higher education, in addition to providing international experiences for teachers and teachers in Palestinian universities, and annual incentive awards were devoted to creativity and excellence, as well as support all education stages because education is primary in creating individuals ready to integrate into the labor market.
Pointing out that the association has many programs that undertakes before and after graduation in order to qualify young people to the labor market through certain criteria, noting that cooperation has provided jobs for thousands of young people during the past years in the private sector and for a limited period with payed training periods, in order to encourage the private sector to train them and then hire them.
She added, that the cooperation has built many hospitals, (most of the specialized units in all hospitals in the country) in addition to that providing support to the occupied Jerusalem city hospitals to enable them to do its work in light of the pressures.
Refugees in Lebanon
And on the role of the association in supporting Palestinian refugees in Lebanon's camps who suffer from difficult humanitarian conditions since their asylum Al-Salem clarified that there is an office of (Taawon) in Lebanon that follows up the conditions in Palestinian camps and focuses on education, since education is basis for helping the camps, in addition to seeking helping students who receive their education in universities and schools and provide them with job opportunities in the market.
She added that (Taawon) pays special attention to the health sector in the Palestinian camps in Lebanon, because there is neglect to this sector by the authorities, as well as many projects, including early childhood programs.
Al-Salem added that although the association supports civil society institutions in general through a participatory and complementary relationship with both the private and public sectors, it also attracts individuals and provides direct support to them according to the type of program, such as programs designated for "youth" such as leadership programs.
Corona pandemic and the role of (Taawon) in dealing with it
Al-Salem explained (Taawon) in light of the Corona global pandemic, launched a campaign against the Corona pandemic, under the title "Palestine is calling " in all regions of the country, and also a campaign in the diaspora camps in Lebanon under the title "We are all one hand" and through this Campaigns: Many funds were attracted through international and Arab institutions, individuals and members of (Taawon) , and during the past two months, they obtained 6 million dollars inside Palestine (Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip), and about one million dollars to Lebanon's camps, explaining that all of this money went to support the health sector, and to promote willingness to diagnose and treat this pandemic.
She added, the hospitals were equipped with medical supplies and devices, through a close relationship with the Palestinian Ministry of Health and other national institutions, in addition to supporting low-income families who suffered greatly during that period from the loss of income, such as insuring food baskets in the Gaza Strip, and residents of a region “C” and around the wall in the West Bank.
Al-Salem made it clear that the distinction in all these projects to establish and creates job opportunities at the same time, support farmers who supply of consumers with the Palestinian product.
On (Taawon) strategy of Corporation after the Corona pandemic, the Director General of (Taawon) Yara Al-Salem, explained that in terms of responding to global changes and the state of economic contraction that the world suffers, along with the difficult political and economic conditions that Palestine is going through, (Taawon) has made an amendment to its strategy, aiming focus On education especially distance education, and all the requirements of this topic, and also the agricultural sector, especially food security, provide job opportunities for young people, focus on the quality of work in the agricultural sector and others.
we focus on making the programs more responsive to the needs at the current stage so that all support is transferred from other programs to emergency projects if the situation develops, and at the same time focus on the importance of networking where (Taawon) alone cannot carry out a process of development change, therefore, networking between different institutions of civil society is important r alongside to the government and the private sector.
Supporting An-Najah University as a model
Regarding the support provided by(Taawon) to An-Najah National University, Al-Salem explained that the Association provided about 40 projects to An-Najah National University during the past years, with about 12-13 million dollars, including the library project $ 5 million, and the Palestinian child institute $ 3 million, and contribute at building Hisham Hijjawi of Applied Sciences, and the various laboratories currently in the university.
She said: "We recently discussed with the university administration building on the cooperation that we have provided, to the university in the past stages, which we continued today by providing additional support to the child institute at the university, and ways of cooperation were discussed in connection with the" fellowship "program which is a program under our large program For education that relates qualification of university teachers in international universities to gain experience and return to the homeland with new experiences, this program will be expanded and intensive work between the university and (Taawon) .
She emphasized that there is one vision between(Taawon) and An-Najah National University and will be based on what has been started, and there are many ideas that can be worked on in relation to solar energy projects and agriculture.
Cooperation and the Palestinian Child Institute for Childhood
Al-Salem pointed out that (Taawon) established the Palestinian Institute for Childhood, believing that the institute greatly serves the Palestinian citizen, especially families with children needs special care.
this center is the only one in the North and Palestine region that provides great services by helping to rehabilitate those with needs. to help them to be effective individuals in society and reduce the burden on their families who have great difficulties in dealing, and how to deal with their children with special needs.
Al-Salem expressed her wish to find cooperation resources in the coming period in order to prepare another center in another region of Palestine to meet the tremendous needs that our children need in different regions.
She pointed out that (Taawon) provided another support to the institute for the coronavirus pandemic, given that there were technical, financial and other difficulties within the past situation, so additional support was provided to ensure that it is a lighthouse for people with special needs of Palestinian individuals and cadres qualified to deal with this category.
Welfare Association and Sources of Support
The Director of the Cooperation Foundation explained that the Foundation has a specific field of work, especially since most of the members of (Taawon) are Palestinians abroad, therefore there is a great cooperation between the association and the Palestinian communities abroad to support the Palestinians inside occupied Palestine.
She emphasized that the Foundation has no ideas to expand its activities outside Palestine and outside the diaspora camps in Lebanon, as it suffers the most difficult conditions, but that there is a trend to increase cooperation with the Palestinians abroad in order to increase support in the coming period, because financial resources are expected to be scarce, and there are many Donor countries want to shift their support to other countries, as well as the political situation and economic recession affects the ability to attract funds
