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Ramallah, 22/12/2010 - The Coalition for Integrity and
Accountability – AMAN – held a workshop which included
activities for the Project Pro Poor Integrity (PPI). is the
project is being implemented in conjunction with the Applied
Research Institute – AREEJ – and the TIRI Organization, and
funded by the British funding agency DFID. The purpose of
the workshop was to discuss the draft for the system of
complaints specific to the Palestinian local institutions.
Participating in the discussion were relevant and concerned
parties such as representatives of various municipalities
and those of complaints units in Palestinian ministries. In
addition, delegates from Human Rights Organizations and a
number of legal representatives and interested researchers
also attended the workshop.
The meeting
commenced with a word of welcome by Mr. Isam Haj Husein,
head of the programs and projects at AMAN. Mr. Hussein
stressed the fact that the meeting was not the first of its
kind with respect to the activation of the system of
complaints in public institutions since this system is one
means of accountability guaranteed by law to all Palestinian
citizens as a tool for overseeing the performance of public
institutions, particularly monitoring institutions.
Furthermore, the preparation of a complaint system for local
institutions is directly related to the principal of
transparency in administration. It also plays a central role
in constructing a system of integrity in the country.
Mr. Rafe’
Salahat, who prepared the draft system, stated that the
objective of this system is to develop and improve the
services provided to the public by local institutions, and
to advance these institutions towards the highest quality of
services it can provide. In addition, the system will help
these institutions to strive towards constant improvement of
their performance to achieve the highest possible level of
exceptional quality and integrity. All this is possible to
achieve since this system works on the premise of inclusion
of those who receive the services in the overseeing process.
The
discussion was opened to the attendees in order to take
comments and recommendations regarding the articles in the
draft rules. The participants agreed on the need to create a
system for complaints that would meet the needs of the
municipalities as well as both large and small local
institutions. They also agreed that it should facilitate the
process of communication between the citizens and the
administrators of those bodies hence narrowing the gap
between them. The participants also believed that it would
be essential to explain clearly all articles in the new
system, particularly as they relate to the privileges of
employees of the complaint units and their relationship to
the elected body and its president.
It was
agreed that the revision process of the draft rules will be
continued and completed, wherein additional comments and
recommendations will be sent to AMAN before it begins
preparing the procedure manual on receiving and handling
complaints. It was also agreed on the need to include the
Ministry of Local Government in these discussions in order
to achieve the best desired outcome in the preparation of
the system before it is officially ratified.
It is worth
mentioning here that AMAN will be holding a series of
training workshops in the near future, which will be held in
the West Bank and Gaza, and will target people in charge of
complaints units in public institutions. The workshops’
objective is to develop the skills of staff members in
complaints units in terms of understanding the function and
purpose of those units, and to instruct them on the
procedure and steps they need to follow in handling
complaints. In addition, the workshops will aim to bring
awareness to the participants in terms of the relationship
between the various complaints units in governmental
institutions and the general administration of complaints in
the Palestinian Cabinet.
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