Ramallah – 17/7/2021 – MIFTAH recently capped off four training workshops on media and digital campaigns that targeted a number of young activists and leaders in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The objective of the workshops was to build the participants’ capacities in managing digital campaigns and disseminating a civil discourse based on the values of good governance and democracy, in addition to promoting a culture of rights and freedoms within social media content.
The training focused on the need for digital platforms to push for the promotion of the political participation of youth. It also stressed on the need for youth to unify their efforts in pressuring decision-makers to ensure the fair representation of this sector in the Palestinian political system. Another objective of the workshop was the dissemination of content based on a culture of human rights, which in turn will promote the protection of freedoms and Palestinian citizens’ rights in addition to combatting the discourse of hatred and polarization.
Participant Malak Nasser Ayede, from Jericho, said the training gave her skills on how to use social media in a more strategic way. This became apparent from her posts, which she says are now more to the point and attractive to the reader. “I hope MIFTAH offers more training and expands to other regions so that more people can benefit from them,” she said.
Sally Nakhla, from Ramallah, also said she greatly benefited from the training, especially since she works in the field of campaign management for youth issues, including their political participation.
MIFTAH coordinator in the Gaza Strip, Shadia Al Ghoul, explained that the training workshop in Gaza targeted 20 activists with the goal of providing the participants with management skills for lobbying and advocacy campaigns in the media, especially through digital media outlets. It also aimed to develop their skills in providing a civil media discourse based on the promotion of democratic values and foundations, in addition to strengthening skills in planning digital campaigns. Al Ghoul also said it provided the participants with skills for preparing digital media content that advocates for the political participation of youth.
Trainer Fadi Al Asa said the training could help the participants achieve strong, national Palestinian media advocacy campaigns, stressing however, the need for a methodology in developing their knowledge in areas that would serve their causes and issues in the future.
“We trainers need more time to train and help them gain the necessary skills, while the trainees also need more time to implement this acquired knowledge and learn from their mistakes so they don’t face any problems in the future. Hopefully they will achieve their intended outcome of creating digital media campaigns that they can later implement on the ground. What’s more, the trainees could eventually become trainers with some additional preparation, thereby broadening the circle so it is not only limited to small groups but becomes more community-based. We need a more comprehensive endeavor not limited to only certain topics, given there are always major technological developments pertaining to social media.”
Meanwhile, MIFTAH project manager, Hassan Mahareeq, said the training workshop was part of MIFTAH’s interventions within its objective of supporting and empowering young leaders and creating an atmosphere of dialogue between Palestinian youth to promote political participation, a unifying national identity and the adoption of democratic values.
This project is carried out by MIFTAH in partnership with the Austrian Representative Office.
Please find below a link to the pictures from the Gaza Strip workshop:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ln7S_ay00IrX56dallHSi5bSktf9biP-?<\ausp=sharing
'مفتاح' تختتم أربع ورشات تدريبية حول الحملات الإعلامية والرقمية استهدفت عدداً من الناشطين والقيادات الشابة في محافظات الضفة وغزة
تاريخ النشر: 17/07/2021
بقلم: مفتاح
رام الله – 17/7/2021 - اختتمت المبادرة الفلسطينية لتعميق الحوار العالمي والديمقراطية "مفتاح" مؤخراً أربع ورشات تدريبية حول الحملات الاعلامية والرقمية، استهدفت من خلالها عدداً من الناشطين والقيادات الشابة في محافظات الضفة الغربية وقطاع غزة، بهدف تنمية قدراتهم في إدارة الحملات الرقمية ونشر الخطاب المدني القائم على قيم الديمقراطية والحكم الصالح، وتعزيز ثقافة الحقوق والحريات في محتوى مواقع التواصل الاجتماعي.
وركز التدريب على أهمية استثمار المنصات الرقمية في الدفع باتجاه تعزيز مشاركة الشباب السياسية وتمكينهم من توحيد جهودهم لممارسة الضغط على جهات صناعة القرار لضمان تمثيل عادل للشباب في مكونات النظام السياسي الفلسطيني، بالإضافة إلى نشر محتوى قائم على ثقافة حقوق الإنسان الذي من شأنه تعزيز حماية الحريات والحقوق للمواطنين الفلسطينيين ومحاربة خطاب الكراهية والاستقطاب.
المتدربة ملاك ناصر العايدي من مدينة أريحا عبرت عن تقديرها لما حققته من فائدة من التدريب الذي مكنها من استخدام السوشال ميديا بطريقة صحيحة واستراتيجية، ما عكس نفسه على منشوراتها هناك والتي باتت أكثر جاذبية وأكثر وضوحاً من ناحية الهدف ومضمون تلك المنشورات. "أتمنى على "مفتاح" أن ترفدنا بمزيد من التدريبات على هذا الصعيد وأن تمتد وتتوسع إلى معظم المحافظات ليستفيد منها العدد الأكبر من المهتمين".
أما سالي نخلة من رام الله، فتحدث بدورها عن استفادة نوعية أضافت الكثير إلى تخصصها في مجال إدارة الحملات التي تخدم قضايا الشباب وأهمها تعزيز مشاركتهم السياسية.
بدورها، قالت شادية الغول، منسقة "مفتاح" في قطاع غزة، "أن الورشة التدريبية التي عقدت في قطاع غزة استهدفت 20 ناشطاً وناشطة، وهدفت إلى تزويد المشاركين/ات بمهارات إدارة حملات الضغط والمناصرة من خلال الإعلام وخاصة الإعلام الرقمي، وتطوير مهاراتهم في تقديم خطاب إعلامي مدني قائم على تعزيز القيم والأسس الديمقراطية. إضافة إلى تعزيز قدراتهم في تخطيط الحملات الرقمية، وتزويدهم بمهارات إدارة الحملات الرقمية، وتزويدهم بمهارات إعداد محتوى إعلامي رقمي مناصر لقضايا مشاركة الشباب السياسية."
وفي تقييمه للمشاركين في التدريب، قال فادي العصا، أنه يمكن أن تساعدهم هذه التدريبات لاحقا في تحقيق حملات مناصرة إعلامية وطنية فلسطينية قوية، مع التأكيد على وجوب وجود منهجية في تطوير معارف المتدربين في هذه المجالات، ما يخدم قضاياهم مستقبلا.
أضاف:" نحن كمُدَرِبَين بحاجة إلى وقت أكثر للتدريب واكسابهم المهارات، والمتدربون بحاجة أيضا إلى وقت أطول في التنفيذ والتعلم من أخطائهم؛ ليواجهوا أية مشكلات في المستقبل، والخروج بالنتيجة المرجوة المتمثلة في تنفيذ حملات رقمية إعلامية حقيقية خلال التدريب، تمكنهم من تنفيذها لاحقا على أرض الواقع. في حين يمكن أن يتطور التدريب ليكون بعد تجهيز هذه المجموعات، وأن يصبحوا مدربين؛ وتتسع الدائرة أكثر ولا يقتصر الأمر على مجموعات صغيرة، وإنما يمتد بشكل مجتمعي ليخدم القضية الوطنية وفق منهج علمي متكامل ومستمر، لا يتوقف فقط عند هؤلاء المتدربين، وضرورة عقد لقاءات بشكل أوسع، كما أن هناك حاجة إلى مشروع كامل لا يقتصر فقط على موضوعات معينة، كون التطورات التكنولوجية كبيرة وكثيرة خاصة فيما يتعلق بمنصات التواصل الاجتماعي وتقنيات العمل عليها".
من ناحيته، قال حسن محاريق، مدير المشروع، أن هذا التدريب يأتي استكمالاً لتدخلات "مفتاح" ضمن دعم وتمكين القيادات الشابة الهادف إلى ترسيخ البيئة الحوارية ما بين الشباب الفلسطيني لتعزيز المشاركة السياسية والهوية الوطنية الجامعة وتبني القيم الديمقراطية، والذي تنفذه "مفتاح" بالشراكة مع الممثلية النمساوية.
MIFTAH holds hearing session on Ministry of Social Development’s budget program and expenditures for the Gaza Strip
Date posted: May 21, 2022
By MIFTAH
Ramallah – 19/5/2022 – MIFTAH held a hearing session this week on the Ministry of Social Development’s allocations for its social protection programs, in the Gaza Strip in particular. The session is part of MIFTAH’s interventions within its program “Working together as Agents for change: Towards the protection and promotion of Women’s human rights”, carried out in partnership with the Women’s Center for Legal Aid and Counseling (WCLAC) and funded by the EU. The objective of the program is to push towards enhancing social protection services and facilitating the access of marginalized social sectors to these services, women subjected to violence, in particular through increasing government allowances for these services.
Representatives from the ministries of Social Development (MoSD) and Finance attended the meeting, along with CSOs and the Civil Society Team for Enhancing Public Budget Transparency in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Data on the budgets allocated for social protection programs was presented, which concluded that there has been a decrease in spending on these protection programs, reflected in allocated budgets and actual expenditures since 2017.
According to the data, the share for the empowerment and poverty reduction (cash assistance) program, was 92% of the overall MoSD budget in 2021. Meanwhile, the share for the protection of marginalized and poor sectors program stood at 6% .The data indicated that women comprised 52% of the overall beneficiaries from the empowerment and poverty reduction program and that the Gaza Strip’s share of allocations was 76% as opposed to 24% for the West Bank.
It should be noted that cash assistance dropped from four installments in 2016 and 2017 to one installment in 2021, which shows the extent of budget cuts for this program and its impact on poverty rates in Palestinian society.
In spite of the importance of protection programs for poor sectors, insomuch as they are the core of the MoSD’s work, financial allocations and budgets allotted to them are very limited. In 2021, less than ILS50 million, or 5% of the Ministry’s budget, were earmarked for these programs. Moreover, between 2019 to 2021, gaps have appeared and widened in terms of allocated budgets in comparison with the actual expenditures for providing and purchasing services for these categories.
The session included a presentation of the financial statements of direct expenditures for poverty reduction and aid in the Gaza Strip. The MoSD in Gaza presented an oral report on the sums, beneficiaries, forms of aid and its distribution among the various social sectors in the Strip. It noted that these services were part of efforts by individuals in the Ministry, not within the framework of the general budget, but through support from external funding parties and implemented by local institutions.
The participant CSOs agreed to produce a position paper with a demand for clear standards of transparency in financial data pertaining to approved allocations and actual expenditures from official executive parties. Other demands include: an increase in spending allocations for protection services, to converge, at a minimum, with the needs of violence and poverty-prone women in particular; the development of fiscal policies more responsive to poor and marginalized social categories; unifying expenditures in the social protection sector within the MoSD’s program budgets; coordinating their interventions with targeted sectors; translating the reform of protection policies at the Ministry into budgets to complete the shift from relief to empowerment; stressing on the importance of including social protection policies in the multiple dimensions pertaining to food security and protection from violence, suitable housing and other basic rights, which oblige the government to fulfill its duties towards poor and marginalized social sectors.
MIFTAH and the Ministry of Labor sign cooperation and understanding agreement for monitoring government spending policies
Date posted: May 18, 2022
By MIFTAH
Ramallah – On May 15, MIFTAH and the Ministry of Labor signed on a cooperation and understanding agreement, meant to mainstream the principles of transparency and integrity and to promote an openness with the public in the preparation of general budgets. It was also aimed at promoting the principle of monitoring over government spending policies, on the premise that this approach has mutual value for both parties, with the goal of creating true partnership and social integration including the participation and monitoring by citizens over public affairs, including fiscal policies. In addition, it promotes principles of good governance including integrity, transparency and social accountability.
The agreement was signed by MIFTAH Executive Director, Dr. Tahreer Araj and Assistant Undersecretary for Labor Sector Affairs, Ali Sawi, on behalf of the Minister of Labor.
Araj stressed on integrality in working with the public sector in order to shed light on the gaps in general budgets from a gender and social justice perspective. The objective of this, she maintained, was to develop fiscal policies in the various budgets through focusing on government expenditures for the Labor Ministry and bias towards marginalized sectors.
Araj said she hoped the two parties would continue working together and further consider the Labor Law from a gender and social justice perspective to render it more equitable for laborers and labor in Palestine.
Meanwhile, Sawi stated that this agreement was part of the Ministry of Labor’s interest in promoting the principles of partnership and cooperation with Palestinian civil society institutions, to ultimately create partnerships between the two parties that would guarantee the people’s participation in and monitoring of public affairs, including fiscal policies. This is in addition to promoting the principles of good governance represented in integrity, transparency and social accountability, he said, stressing on the importance of training budget teams at the Ministry of Labor and promoting a participatory approach in the work environment.
Throughout the meeting, the participants discussed the importance of participating in the development of public policies, especially given that the Ministry of Labor plays a key role in monitoring and implementing operational policies. They also stressed on the importance of determining priorities in a bid to accelerate the response to citizens’ needs. Furthermore, the meeting shed light on the challenges the Labor Ministry faces in terms of allocating budgets to the multiple programs it oversees.
MIFTAH displays digitization of 2022 Citizens’ Budget
Date posted: April 28, 2022
By MIFTAH
Ramallah – MIFTAH recently held a session to discuss the development of a digitized Citizens’ Budget in 2022. The session was attended by planning and budgetary teams and IT departments in several ministries in addition to members of the Civil Society Team for Enhancing Public Budget Transparency. Ultimately, this would increase citizens’ access to fiscal data and figures pertaining to ministry budgets, especially regarding service programs directly impacting citizens.
In the first quarter of 2022, MIFTAH worked with budgetary teams in the Ministry of Social Development and the Ministry of Labor to develop a digitized trial version of their Citizens’ Budget, the objective of which is to sustain the development of international standards of transparency and to promote openness among ministries with the public.
The session included a breakdown of the approved 2022 General Budget in terms of revenues, expenditures, deficit, general debt, arrears and social sector allocations. Focus was especially placed on the Ministry of Social Development and Ministry of Labor’s budgets and the challenges hindering the general budget in achieving its 2022 goals. It also addressed the financial obligations of decision-making centers in the social sector and the financial gaps that continue to increase and impact services. In addition, the participants discussed proposed alternatives for alleviating the government’s financial crisis.
The trial versions of both ministries’ digitized Citizens’ Budget were then presented as part of efforts to keep abreast with global experiments in this regard and contribute to cooperation among various decision-making centers, CSOs and research centers. In turn, this could promote involvement in a monitoring role over public spending, cooperation on bridging financial gaps in public expenditures and determining priorities within national efforts to alleviate the impact of the financial crisis.
Furthermore, digitizing citizens’ budgets will allow decision-making centers to remain up-to-date with the rapid changes in citizens’ needs, based on accurate fiscal information and numbers. It will also foster cooperation between the relevant parties in developing policies responsive to the needs of the various communities, especially marginalized sectors.
The session, held in cooperation with UNDP, falls in line with MIFTAH’s approaches and efforts to impact public policies towards the protection of citizens’ rights and guaranteeing social justice and equality in the development of public policies, in addition to promoting good governance in Palestine.
