newsletter n.16 - Gerusalemme

NGOs in the Territories
crocredit programs for economic development,
rural campaigns in support of
women’s empowerment, support for the
primary and secondary education, training
and support of the health sector.
The area of East Jerusalem also represents
a critical issue in the Palestinian Territories.
Its inhabitants live in a situation of
high social disadvantage which affects
mostly young people. Moreover, they live
with the constant threat of losing their
homes due to forced displacement and
demolition orders issued by the Israeli
authorities. The Italian NGOs are at the
forefront in this crucial field for the Palestinian
Territories. Their aim is to promote
development through the creation
of “protected social places “for young
people at risk and the implementation
of projects related to the housing sector,
which promote the Palestinian presence
in East Jerusalem.
In this composite scenario
the NGOs’ commitment
has been steady, often
taking a multi-sectoral
profile and a strategy
of intervention that
meets the diverse
needs of different
beneficiaries and the
conditions of an ongoing
changing context.
The versatility of
NGOs
and
the strategic transparency towards civil
society has been greatly appreciated by the
beneficiaries, as it has been highlighted
in the recent report by ActionAid. The
document also emphasizes the role of
coordination exercised by the Italian
Cooperation, in a logic of synergies,
strives to avoid duplication and overlap
between organizations working in the
same sector.
Our country supports a number of interventions
in different fields: from the
basic health initiatives and the support
to farmers and Bedouin communities to
initiatives of micro-credit for women’s
cooperatives.
AISPO and DISVI, focus their projects
on the health sector, through training,
technical assistance and support to hospitals
in the West Bank and in the Gaza
Strip. AISPO plays an important role in
supporting public hospitals in
the West Bank (Hebron,
Nablus and Ramallah),
through the introduction
of surgical and
minimally invasive
laparoscopic techniques
at low cost.
While in Gaza, AI-
SPO buys equipment
and spare parts and
encourages training
for the staff of the Unit
of clinical engineering in Gaza
City. Whereas DISVI aims at
improving health conditions in
Bedouin villages in the district of
Hebron and Bethlehem, facilitating
access to facilities in reference
to mobile health services and
the dissemination of basic
knowledge in the field of health
care.
ACS, COOPI, CRIC, Overseas, Oxfam
Italia are mostly involved in the field of
agricultural, environmental and food safety.
They mainly focus on direct support
to farmers in the Gaza Strip and the West
Bank, along with projects related to business,
rural development and microcredit
that encourage the creation of agricultural
cooperatives and support of poor families
at risk of food insecurity in rural and poor
urban areas. Some of these NGOs are also
involved in the socio-educational field:
professional training and improvement
of employment opportuniti es for young
people in East Jerusalem (COOPI), the
creation of centres for the protection of
children’s rights in the West Bank (Oxfam
Italy). Access to water and sanitation are
key themes of GVC, which has decided to
operate in a crucial sector, given the critical
shortage of water in the Palestinian territory.
Along to this context, GVC also works
in the West Bank, more specifically in the
agricultural and food security sector.
There are several NGOs working in the
social sector, some of them working
mainly in education and training as AVSI,
ATS, CISS, Educaid and VIS, other more
committed to the protection of vulnerable
groups: children at risk, disabled
(ARCS, ICS, Nexus, Peace Games, Save
the Children Italy, Terres des Hommes)
and women (CESVI, COSPE, Differenza
Donna). Within the gender area , three
NGOs are involved on several levels:
CESVI carries out a project of micro-cre-
NEWSLETTER N.16 5