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Phase IV

Submitted to:

-The Netherlands Representative Office to the PA
-The Representative Office of Norway to the PA
-Luxembourg Development Cooperation

Submitted By:
Coalition for Accountability and Integrity-AMAN (Transparency  Palestine)

1. Project identification

2. Summary of action:

At times of political transition and post-war reconstruction, corruption tends to spread due to lack of legislations and firmly established institutions in addition to weak rule of law and lack of separation of power as well as weak political will. This is true in the Palestinian case. Principles and systems of transparency and accountability are still underdeveloped and thus hindering the establishment of a national integrity system. The consequences of corruption on the country’s democratic process, its political system, and its economic growth are widely known. The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and its successive governments have failed to implement promised reforms. Opportunities to mitigate corruption will be further jeopardized by the flow of the 7.4 billion dollars pledged to the PNA at the Paris Donors Conference in December 2007, if no substantial reforms are introduced.

Sound public management, transparency and accountability are cornerstones of good governance. They are prerequisites for solving many of the challenges facing the Palestinian people. To ensure good governance and transparency, it is crucial to provide independent, fact based and reliable information on government spending and operations, legal system and policy framework, judiciary and oversight institutions and mechanisms as well as on civil society's role and involvement.

Therefore, the creation of a non-corruption culture remains a challenge facing Palestinian stakeholders and concerned parties including AMAN. The establishment of an effective and accountable public and civil society institutions, the reform of the judiciary and political systems, as well as engaging the civil society and the private sector in the fight against corruption, are pressing needs which AMAN  has to continue to address.

AMAN believes that corruption significantly undermines human development and human security. Therefore, AMAN's work strives to contribute to poverty alleviation and socio-economic development, as this makes value for money and best allocation of resources and distribution of opportunities possible.

Consequently, AMAN submits this proposal for a fourth phase built on its strategic review, the achievements and lessons learned from the first, second and third phases of the core program; supported by the Netherlands and Norwegian governments for the past five years. 

Moreover, the proposed action contributes to the building of an effective national integrity system as a preventive strategy for combating corruption, to enable AMAN to achieve the following objectives:

1. Improve integrity, transparency, accountability (ITA), quality of services, and equal opportunity in public institutions and civil society organizations.

2. Promote civil society's role in monitoring/overseeing the performance of the public sector with particular emphasis on ITA and the respect for the rule of law.

3. Increase dissemination of factual and timely information about the magnitude of corruption in the Palestinian Society.

4. Increase public awareness on corruption-related issues.

5. Influence policy and decision makers in Palestinian institutions of all sectors to create effective institutions, initiatives, and legislations capable of combating corruption.

6. Expand AMAN's networking and cooperation relations with partners and related local and international organizations.

Target groups include the following:

-      Public institutions including ministerial and non ministerial institutions, security institutions and local council (municipalities and village councils).

-       Civil society; NGOs, political parties, media, students, women

-      The Judiciary

-       Monitoring institutions (Administrative and Financial State Audit and monitoring units in ministries)

-       Private/ business sector

AMAN envisages to implement a set of major activities such as training, reviewing legislations and laws, conducting surveys and researches, compiling legal and corruption reports, developing anti-corruption codes of conduct, granting integrity awards and good governance certificates, as well as implement lobbying and advocacy activities. Some of the activities will be subcontracted to survey centers, trainers, and NGOs according to a well-developed terms of reference, which clearly define roles, tasks and implementation methodologies.

AMAN believes the action will enable strong cooperation among governmental stakeholders, particularly anti-corruption authorities and non-governmental stakeholders, across the Palestinian territories and with their peers in the region and worldwide.

Duration of action:

The duration of the fourth phase of the program will be 36 months starting in May 2010 and ending in April 2013.

Project budget: The action, which will be implemented in the West Bank including Jerusalem and Gaza Strip will last three years with a total cost of US$ 2450735.75.

3. Description of the Action (Program 2010-2013/ Phase IV)

AMAN aims to continue its work in Phase IV based on the annual strategic review held during April 2009, lessons learned, and the accumulated expertise it gained through the years and relationships built with local, regional and international experts.

3.1. Overall Objective

This phase of AMAN’s work (2010-2013) aims to contribute to the building of an effective national integrity system as a preventive strategy for combating corruption 

3.2. Specific Objectives

AMAN will concentrate on achieving the following specific objectives: 

I. Improve integrity, transparency, accountability (ITA), quality of services, and equal opportunity in public institutions & civil society organizations.

AMAN will focus its efforts on the production of analytical report/ assessment study on the de facto implementation of codes of conduct in the public sector, local councils, NGOs and private sector (a sample of various institutions to be researched). According to the results and main findings of the report, AMAN will plan its interventions with regard to the implementation/ integration of code of conduct (CoC) in these organizations. Some of its interventions will include awareness-raising workshops, lobby activities targeting the “Personnel Bureau, Civil Servant Unions”, which are the caretaker of the public institutions, as well as building the capacity of personnel/monitoring units/state audit and administrative control bureau in CoC implementation.

AMAN will also implement activities targeting individual local councils to assist them establish codes of conduct that are adapted to their own situation and context. At least 15 councils in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (five councils will be targeted each year) will be targeted during the span of the Program. Awareness raising workshops will be held to publicize the code of conduct and spread it out among the constituency. Furthermore, AMAN will assist these councils to implement the codes of conduct so as to become part of their daily practice.

AMAN will target forty registered shareholding companies in its awareness-raising and lobby activities to ensure the implementation of the code of conduct. It will also target NGOs in building their capacity to integrate a code of conduct in their daily work plans and systems.   

In order to motivate individuals and institutions to engage in fighting corruption, AMAN initiated five integrity awards for distinguished employees in the private, public and media sectors that have exposed or prevented corruption in their institutions. Additionally, AMAN initiated integrity certificates for private companies and media institutions. These awards and certificates are granted publicly by an independent jury at an annual transparency festival held by AMAN on the International Anti Corruption Day on the 9^th of December.      

II. Promote civil society's role in monitoring/overseeing the performance of public sector with a particular emphasis on ITA and the respect for the rule of law.

This component will mainly aim at building the capacity of NGOs against Corruption, Parliamentarians against Corruption and Youth for Integrity and Transparency in monitoring and advocacy/lobbying, and journalists in investigative reports. Linked to this objective is monitoring the implementation of the National Plan for Enhancing Integrity and Transparency in the Public Work, through the preparation of analytical reports/ assessment studies and accountability hearing sessions (all related stakeholders: Judiciary/security institution/ government/ President office/ private sector/ civil society).  Furthermore; monitoring the effectiveness of complaint units in public institutions through assessment studies/ reports and accountability hearings as well as holding accountability hearings on PNA budget and other related public affairs such as tenders and bids, personnel recruitment and vital services (health, water and sanitation, petroleum, electricity, etc.). It is expected to establish an advocacy plan which AMAN and its affiliated pressure groups will be actively involved in designing and implementation. 

III. Increase factual and timely information about the magnitude of corruption in the Palestinian Society.

One of the major obstacles facing reform in the OPT has been the lack of information about the dynamics and real magnitude of corruption within various sectors in the Palestinian society.  In addition to that and based on the assumption that enhancing the civil societies’ watchdog capability depends on sufficient information, one of the main specific objectives of this phase continues to be the provision of improved, timely and objective flow of information about public issues to all stakeholders in addition to developing corruption index and annual corruption report. It is true that a lot of progress has been made in this regard, but work is still needed to provide continuous and updated information, based on systematic approach.

Due to the lack of literature on corruption subject matters in Arabic, AMAN intends to develop its capacity in this regard, to encourage academics and researchers to conduct applied research in this field, and to develop its resource center to provide up-to-date timely information., AMAN will also hold a continued cooperation relationship with Transparency International (TI) and its affiliated national chapters aiming at receiving their up to date publications. AMAN will select several publications in consultation with TI and national chapters to be translated to Arabic and printed.  

IV. Increase public awareness on corruption related issues

AMAN will focus its efforts on creating and publicizing a culture of anti-corruption within the Palestinian society by outsourcing civil society organizations (CSOs) to undertake awareness raising initiatives on corruption, supporting/ developing civic education for school children on integrity and fighting corruption, supporting religious institutions to raise people’s awareness against corruption, and conducting media activities. AMAN's main role and intervention will be producing and disseminating awareness materials and publications such as booklets, stories, caricatures, documentaries, etc. Additionally, AMAN will be publishing and distributing its periodic reports on corruption related cases followed by its center for advocacy and legal advice (ALAC). AMAN will specifically focus on children, youth and women in its outreach awareness raising activities during this phase. However, it will continue to target other categories and sectors of the Palestinian community.

V. Influence policy and decision makers in Palestinian institutions of all sectors to create effective institutions, initiatives, and legislations capable of combating corruption

This component will mainly aim at raising the capacity and political will of the public, private and NGO institutions in the OPT in strategizing and devising proper implementation mechanisms for incorporating transparency and accountability in their institutional entity, administrative and financial systems and regulations. Special attention will be granted to international organizations working in the OPT based on the findings of the analytical report which is presently undertaken by AMAN. 

AMAN will focus its intervention on the government and council of ministers to increase their will to adopt and implement the national plan for Promoting and Enhancing Integrity and Transparency in the Public Work. AMAN will implement an advocacy campaign in which various strategies and tools will be used for raising their awareness on the importance of the national plan. On the other hand, AMAN will focus on developing stakeholders’ capacity to assess UNCAC implementation by increasing their technical knowledge on key priority areas under the UNCAC (United Nations Convention Against Corruption) to help them identify related challenges and subsequently needed reforms. We envisage awareness rising and training workshops on UNCAC for senior officials such as ministers, deputies and heads of non ministerial institutions, to be conducted in the framework of this action.

Furthermore, this component will build the capacity of political parties’ leaderships, and the NGOs governing body (BoD) and general assembly to incorporate ITA processes in their work.

AMAN will also maintain its approach of engaging representatives of all sectors engaged in its activities particularly public hearings and conferences.

VI. Expand AMAN's networking and cooperation relations with partners and related local and international organizations

Networking is one of the strategies that AMAN adopts to develop its own capacity and to engage national and local organizations in the fight against corruption.  AMAN will continue working with local, regional and international organization; for instance, Transparency International and its chapters and will actively participate at TI annual conferences and regional meetings. It will exchange experiences, lessons learned, and disseminate information with these organizations. In addition, it will assist in the establishment of other Arab Transparency chapters, particularly in Egypt and Jordan.

AMAN will also continue to empower the four networks, which we helped to establish through technical and logistical support (Parliamentarians against Corruption, Non- Governmental Organizations against Corruption, Journalists for Accountability and Integrity).

Programmatic Achievements in 2008-2009:

1. National plan for combating corruption has been drafted and a national team formulated as a result of AMAN’s lobbying efforts;

2. UNCAC self assessment checklist completed by the Government;

3. AMAN is a member of the regional Network “ Civil Society Organizations to support the application of the UNCAC in the Arab World”;

4. The watchdog role of Civil Society Organizations has been enhanced through the Outsourcing Program;

5. The Advocacy and Legal Advisory Center (ALAC) has been launched;

6. A Memorandum of Understanding between the Judicial Council and CSOs  working in rule of law, good governance and human rights has been signed;

7. The first drawing competition among children and exhibition on Anti Corruption were organized by AMAN;

8. A Presidential Decree on forming a National Anti Money Laundering Committee has been issued;

9. Marked improvement in citizen right to access to information  has been achieved;

10. AMAN received the 2008 Welfare Association Award for Achievement (WAA) for Palestinian NGOs;

11. A number of Anti Corruption training manuals were developed;

12. Book launching event was held;

13. Several studies and reports to implement UNCAC were produced;

14. The resource center continues to be upgraded;

15. AMAN’s participation in regional and international conferences was continued; and

16. Two new members joined AMAN’s Board of Directors.

Action team:

The action team consisting of 16 people will be directly involved in planning, implementing and monitoring implementation. Various responsibilities, tasks and powers will be clearly identified amongst the team. A proper consultation process will be placed and stressed throughout the implementation process. The teamwork spirit will guide the work throughout the process. The ownership spirit will be the adopted strategy to increase and foster staff’s commitment to the action. Most of the action team is already recruited and have been working for AMAN for the past years.

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