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AMAN is
Palestine’s first coalition of Civil Society Organizations, and
thus faces the challenge of learning and modeling best practice
in its own operations, management, leadership and institutional
governance. The past two years have provided the nascent
Coalition with useful experience and lessons learned in order
for AMAN to realize its full potential, and put into practice
systems that ensure it achieves the highest ethical standards in
all aspects of its work.
The current
Coalition members have already understood that the values of
transparency, integrity and accountability must become living
mechanisms for the Coalition itself
AMAN’s
imminent accession to Transparency International represents a
pivotal moment in the development of the Palestinian chapter,
and also for Transparency International itself. The accession
process is completed and AMAN is currently acting as
Transparency International Palestine (TIP) . Key among the
challenges and opportunities represented by this step is the
need to ensure that AMAN fully meets its obligations at both the
programmatic and institutional level. Membership of the
international movement will provide considerable benefits to
AMAN, notably by providing access to a critical networking
mechanism that can provide much needed credibility for a new
coalition in a highly complex and challenging operating
environment. AMAN intends to be a dynamic partner within
Transparency International, and to benefit fully from all the
opportunities that membership represents.
Regionally,
AMAN has been active in sharing experiences with it's regional
partners, namely in Lebanon, Morocco and Bahrain. AMAN plans to
continue this partnership, and considers it as a vital role to
its credibility and learning process.
Establishment
Based on a principled commitment to the
objectives of ensuring integrity,
transparency and accountability, in response
to the pressing need for enhancing and
fostering democracy and a system of good
governance in Palestine, and as an
embodiment of these principles which form
essential components of democracy, a group
of concerned and serious Palestinian
institutions of civil society took the
initiative in February 2000 to form
"The Coalition
for Accountability and Integrity-AMAN."
The purpose for such an initiative is to
launch a program for combating corruption in
the Palestinian Society, and achieve the
widest possible participation in its
implementation.
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Founding Organizations of AMAN: |
A group of
six concerned Palestinian NGOs joined efforts to form a
Coalition to oversee the initial period of inception and lay the
groundwork for eventually forming Transparency Palestine to be a
member of Transparency International, an international civil
society movement with an exclusive focus on corruption. The
heads of these six NGOs established the Founding Committee of
the Coalition and elected a General Coordinator.
One of the first tasks that the Founding Committee undertook was
to set-up a full time Secretariat to mange the day-to-day
operation of the Coalition.
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The
Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue
and Democracy “MIFTAH”, Jerusalem
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Arab
Thought Forum “ATF”, Jerusalem
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The
Palestine Trade Center “PalTrade”, Ramallah
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The
Palestinian Institute for the Study of Democracy “MUWATIN”,
Al-Bireh
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Al-Mezan
Center for Human Rights, Gaza
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The
Palestinian Council on Foreign Relations, Gaza.
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Relations with Transparency
International ( TI ) |
An
important part of AMAN’s strategy for combating
corruption is not limited to local initiatives/activities
but includes AMAN’s involvement in activities on
international and regional levels. One of AMAN’s main
objectives under programme Capacity Building was the
completion of TI’s accreditation process to become
Transparency Palestine. The Coalition of AMAN is
currently the Palestinian National Chapter for Transparency
International (TI), and is acting as the contact
organization for regional transparency chapters, and other
similar organizations working in the areas of transparency,
accountability, and integrity. Other AMAN activities
include active participation of its members in TI’s Annual
General Meetings and regional meetings for the past four
years. These members have also presented papers at these
global meeting on issues pertaining to Palestinian
corruption. Currently, AMAN is actively
participating in the network for the Middle East and Near
Africa (MENA) to make an Arabic adaptation to TI’s
Sourcebook and efforts on the Public’s Right to Access of
Information. AMAN is also preparing to complete the “Input
Form” for TI’s
Global Corruption Report 2006.
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Coalition Structure
and Functionality |
Based
on AMAN's internal bylaws, AMAN consists
of two bodies: one is legislative and
the other is executive. The legislative
body is the General Assembly that
consists of 18 members that represent
the coalition. Each organization has
three representatives. The General
assembly is responsible for electing the
board of Directors (an executive
committee), adopting the rules and
regulations necessary for governing the
coalition, and approving the
administrative and financial reports
presented by the Administrative Board.
AMAN's
executive body is the Secretariat that
is led by the Board of Directors and the
General Coordinator. The Board of
Directors is responsible for running
the Coalition, preparing internal
regulations and instructions. The Board
is composed of:
1- Dr.
Hanan Ashrawi,
Founder and first Secretary General of
the Palestinian Initiative for the
Promotion of Global Dialogue and
Democracy- MIFTAH (December 1998-
January 2006), and an elected member of
the Palestinian Legislative Council for
the Jerusalem district, Board
Chairperson.
2- Dr.
George Giacaman: General Director, the
Palestinian Institute for the Study of
Democracy, MUWATIN, Board Member.
3- Dr.
Ziad Abu-Amr:
Former President of the Palestinian
Council on Foreign Relations and
re-elected as a member of the
Palestinian Legislative Council in
January 2006. Board Member.
4- Dr.
Kammal Al Sharafi, Chairperson of the
Board of Al-Mezan Center for Human
Rights, Ex-PLC Member, North Gaza
Distict, Board Member.
5- Abdel
Rahman Abu Arafeh, Director General,
Arab Thought Forum, Board Member.
AMAN is
headed by a General Coordinator.
The duties of the General Coordinator
include supervising AMAN's daily
operations and ensuring that decisions
of the Board of Directors are
implemented. AMAN’s General Coordinator
is:
- Dr. Azmi
Shuaibi,
a former member of the Palestinian
Legislative Council (1996-2006), where
he headed the Budget Committee
(1997-1999) and the Economic Committee
(2002-2006). He was mayor for Al Bireh
Municipality between 1976 and 1982 and
was the Minister of Sports and Youth
from 1994 to 1996.
AMAN
Secretariat
consists of the technical, financial,
and administrative teams that implement
the activities and programs or any other
activities deemed necessary by the Board
of Directors.
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Mission Statement |
AMAN seeks to contribute to good
governance through fostering and
enhancing accountability in the
political system as well as in all
sectors of Palestinian society.
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Strategic Objectives |
Strategic Goals:
1- Ensuring that the Palestinian Public is
sufficiently informed about the causes and
damaging effects of corruption and sufficiently
engages in combating it.
2- Promoting values of Integrity and systems of
transparency and accountability in the different
Palestinian Sectors.
3- Building an effective and sustainable CSO
Coalition to ensure that the fight for a
corruption-free Palestine is ongoing.
Specific Objectives:
1- Mobilizing
experts and relevant institutions in a joint
effort to realize the mission statement.
2- Identifying
and investigating different aspects, features,
causes, and consequences of corruption as well
as abuse of trust and authority, and misuse of
public funds and the absence of accountability
in all aspects.
3-
Formulating conclusions and specific
recommendations concerning containment of
corruption and the prevention of its
proliferation both in society and in the system
of government.
4-Defining and proposing the appropriate and
necessary mechanisms in the legislative,
judicial, administrative and financial areas and
in different sectors to counter corruption and
achieve transparency and accountability.
5-
Raising public awareness among
Palestinian society regarding the danger of
corruption and its devastating impact as well as
concerning the imperative of public demands to
incorporate the principles and institutions of
accountability and systems of transparency,
openness, and professional responsible conduct.
6-Following up existing work to carry out the
required reforms and to institutionalize
accountability.
7-Enhancing the role of oversight institutions
including the Palestinian Legislative Council
and civil society, and stressing the importance
of the role of the different officials and
private media in the free and objective coverage
and public education.
8-Contributing to the development and support of
an independent and honest judicial system to
play an effective role in fighting corruption
and preventing its spread.
9-
Proposing draft legislations and
regulations and working closely with the
Palestinian Legislative Council and its
committees in order to enhance and activate its
legislature and oversight in the areas relevant
to AMAN’s work.
10- tworking
with relevant Arab and international
institutions and enhancing the Palestinian
contribution to them.
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Working Mechanisms: |
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The
Coalition functions as a network of specialized and
active institutions on the basis of precise criteria and
requirements that guarantee credibility,
professionalism, and effective results. It will analyze
and assign specific responsibilities and tasks among
participating institutions and experts to ensure
complementarity, coordination, and quality performance.
1-Creating resource pool of existing work and
assigning other required studies on the subject. The
output will be published and made available to the
public as a whole. In addition relevant world
literature will be published and disseminated in
Arabic.
2-The convening seminars, workshops, discussion and
dialogue sessions and a major conference to ensure
comprehensive, effective Palestinian participation from
the grass roots and civil society, as well as the
private and public sectors.
3-Energizing Palestinian media and convening of meetings
with media leadership and providing the different press
services with the necessary material on the subject.
4-Coordinating and cooperating with parliamentary groups
and blocs for the purpose of combating corruption and
activating accountability.
5- Addressing
directly all concerned parties, including the executive
authority and its public institutions to ensure the
recommendations, plans and suggestions.
6-Providing training programs in order to prepare
qualified Palestinian cadre in different institutions
and contribute to capacity building in the areas of
systems of accountability and transparency.
7- Enhancing
monitoring and oversight institutions and endorsing
their exercise by professional and legal means.
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Statement of Guiding Principles and
Values |
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The
following principles guide AMAN in all aspects of its
work:
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Co-Ownership and partnership
The
Coalition believes that it can best achieve its
objectives by ensuring that the broadest possible range
of stakeholders can be fully involved in common cause.
Thus the Coalition is committed to facilitating the
inclusion and involvement of people and institutions at
all levels in Palestinian society. It is equally
committed to building and developing relationship with
funding partners and other key stakeholders that enable
the capacities and common concerns of all to inform and
strengthen the effectiveness and impact of its
programming.
•
Empowerment
AMAN
plays a key role as a capacity builder with its
Palestinian stakeholders. It believes that ownership is
the objective of participation. It further believes in
the innate capacity of the Palestinian people to
strengthen their society and build accountability
systems and structures, and it is committed to being an
enabler of this process. Thus AMAN understands
empowerment to be a process of enablement of innate
capacity, not a traditional, top-down notion of
instruction.
•
Integrity and Accountability
The
struggle for accountability and integrity in the
Palestinian society is reflected in every aspect of the
Coalition's internal systems. The Coalition is a living
institutional embodiment of the values it espouses to
others. Thus the highest standards of management,
leadership and governance provide an institutional
framework of excellence within the Coalition itself, and
ensure that its programming is designed, monitored,
evaluated and reported according to these high
standards.
•
Innovation
AMAN
uses a variety of delivery methodologies in order to
ensure the optimum impact of its program. It adopts
innovative programming implementation methodologies.
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Sustainability
The
Coalition applies the principle of sustainability in
both program design and implementation as well as in its
internal systems. Thus AMAN is always mindful of the
need to design programming that yields enduring impact
for the benefit of the Palestinian people. It also
ensures that its internal systems are designed and
operated in order to diversify its dependence on
funding, and to mobilize the involvement of society in
sustainability of effort as well as sustainability of
results.
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AMAN’s PROGRAM |
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AMAN’s program
consists of seven components:
1-
Promoting values of Integrity and systems of
transparency and accountability among various sectors of
the Palestinian Society (private, public, local
governance, NGOs, youth).
This
program component aims at raising the public awareness
to the values of integrity and systems pf transparency
and accountability and to their own role in combating
corruption.
2-
Promoting ethics and professional standards in
services provided by Public Sector Organizations.
This program
component aims at developing a code of conduct and
ethical mandates for public sector employees, creating a
culture among public sector employees, that realizes the
importance of ethical behavior and adherence to
professional standards in combating corruption at public
sector organizations, and adopting and implementing
principles and systems that help create an enabling
environment that encourages and enables public officials
to release objective information to the public.
3-
Ensuring that the Media independency and competency
in the fight against corruption has measurably enhanced.
This program
component aims at raising the public awareness towards
the importance of free media and freedom of speech and
strengthening systems of accountability and transparency
at the public sector. Moreover, it aims at increasing
the capacity of media professionals in exposing
corruption through investigative reporting. It works at
pressuring the PLC to ratify all necessary legislations
needed to provide protection for media institutions and
professionals.
4-
Ensuring that the capacity of Public Sector
institutions in providing timely Objective information
about their activities to the public is measurably
enhanced.
This program
component aims at ensuring that laws pertaining to
“right to access to information” are advocated and are
being continuously updates and reviewed. It also aims at
raising a culture about the right to access information
and that freedom of speech is spread among the
Palestinian public. On the other hand, it aims at
enhancing the public’s ability to evaluate services
provided by the public sector.
5-
Promoting and advocating legislation governing the
separation of powers between legislative, judicial and
executive bodies in the Palestinian Public sector.
This program
component aims at advocating and promoting laws
pertaining to the “separation of Powers” in the PLC. It
also aims at creating acceptance in the Palestinian
political culture in accepting the principle of
“Separation of Powers” as being a priority in any reform
initiative.
6-
Expanding and upgrading AMAN’s institutional and
operational capacity to adhere effectively to its
program and responsibilities.
This program
component aims at strengthening the roles,
responsibilities, and functions of AMAN’s Board of
Directors. It also aims at setting programmatic design,
monitoring, evaluation, and coordination systems.
Additionally, it aims at ensuring that transparent
by-laws and accountable administrative and financial
systems are operational. Also, that the professional
competencies of AMAN’s staff are upgraded and expanded.
7-
Enhance and promoting AMAN’s relations and
partnerships with various similar and related
institutions at the local, regional and international
levels.
This
program aims at enhancing structured and regular
consultative and cooperation process among AMAN and
other similar organizations at the local, regional, and
international levels.
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NETWORKING |
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An
important part of AMAN’s strategy for combating
corruption includes AMAN’s involvement in activities on
international and regional levels. AMAN’s had completed
TI’s accreditation process to become Transparency
Palestine. On September 8, 2004, the Coalition of AMAN
had signed the accreditation agreement with TI to become
the Palestinian National Chapter for Transparency
International (TI). AMAN is acting as the contact
organization for regional transparency chapters, and
other similar organizations working in the areas of
transparency, accountability, and integrity. Other AMAN
activities include active participation of its members
in TI’s Annual General Meetings and regional meetings
for the past five years. These members have also
presented papers at these global meeting on issues
pertaining to anti-corruption Palestine.
Other activities with TI included developing the
Palestinian draft “Right to access to information”.
AMAN
participated among other countries in a project
entitled: Corruption in Post War Reconstruction.
AMAN
took part in a project Program on Strengthening the
Oversight Capacity of Parliamentarians and Civil Society
Organizations in the MENA Region “Establishing
Palestinian Parliamentarians against Corruption” funded
by the World Bank.
AMAN
also signed cooperation and funding agreements with the
Norwegian and the Netherlands governments for capacity
building and the diagnostic research and studies for
combating corruption in the Palestinian society.
AMAN
had joined efforts with
Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation in implementing a European
Commission funded project NAZAHA that aims at
strengthening civil society through enhancing the
accountability and good governance in the NGO sector.
AMAN
believes that education is the vehicle for change in a
society. It is out of this belief that AMAN is working
jointly with CHF International in implementing an
Anti-corruption Training Program that is partly funded
by the US-Department of State Bureau of Democracy, Human
Rights and Labor (DRL). The program aims at providing
Palestinian youth with an understanding of corruption
and how to combat it through transparency,
accountability, and integrity.
AMAN
will be working soon with the UN Office on implementing
a joint project that aims at promoting the UN Convention
against Corruption in Palestine.
Regionally, AMAN is an active participant in the
network for the Middle East and Near Africa (MENA) that
worked on producing an Arabic adaptation to TI’s
Sourcebook. AMAN also participates in completing the
“Input Form” for TI’s
Global Corruption
Annual Report.
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