In light of a discussion session on a draft report titled: "Gaza Municipality's Response to Accountability and Community Participation Requirements During the Genocide"
The AMAN Coalition calls for the need to shift from a centralized work model to a participatory national model led by local authorities
Gaza—The Coalition for Integrity and Accountability (AMAN) held a discussion session via Zoom on a report titled "The Response of the Gaza Municipality to the Requirements of Accountability and Community Participation during the Genocide in the Gaza Strip" in order to highlight the Gaza Municipality's ability to continue providing its vital public services amidst the war and evaluate its adherence to the principles of transparency and accountability and its community participation under the harsh humanitarian conditions the city's residents are experiencing.
The report began with a speech by Wael Baalousha, Director of the AMAN Coalition Office in the Gaza Strip, in which he discussed the report's coverage of the reality of Gaza Municipality services, community participation tools, and complaint mechanisms, as well as the challenges faced by the municipality and ways to address them. The report also offers a set of practical recommendations applicable to other local authorities in the Gaza Strip.
Gaza Municipality in the eye of the storm: Resilience of administration and services despite the massacre
The report was presented by Marwa Abu Awda, Advocacy and Community Accountability Coordinator at the AMAN Coalition, who confirmed that the Gaza Municipality has faced tremendous destruction as a result of the ongoing Israeli aggression, which began in October 2023. Approximately 75% of the municipality's facilities and equipment were destroyed, more than 48 of its employees were martyred, and the vital infrastructure for water, sewage, and waste management was severely damaged.
Despite this, the municipality was able to rearrange its priorities to provide minimum services in the fields of water, sewage, waste removal, and road opening, relying on limited emergency plans and flexible communication channels with the local community.
he reality of community participation before and during the war: from plans to initiatives
The report showed that the Gaza Municipality had established a strong framework for community participation before the war through neighborhood committees, youth councils, open consultative meetings, and allocating 2% of its budget to support community initiatives.
During the war, the municipality relied on activating the community communication committee and maintaining weekly meetings with representatives of neighborhood committees, despite displacement and loss of contact in many areas. And it was able to stimulate volunteer initiatives to support water and sanitation services in shelters and affected areas.
Accountability in times of genocide: between disruption of oversight and flexibility of complaints
Accountability systems were severely affected due to the destruction of buildings and the disruption of external oversight by different bodies like the Financial and Administrative Control Bureau. However, the municipality was able to activate the complaints department despite the difficulties and partially restored its electronic system to receive reports while continuing to provide oral reports within the municipal council.
The report indicates that the Gaza Municipality has shown a commitment to documenting field activities and conveying the needs of the residents through unconventional channels at a time when external inspections and audits were impossible.
Enormous challenges: from bombardment to displacement and loss of resources
The report identified a series of challenges faced by the Gaza Municipality, including the continuation of aggression, destruction of infrastructure, displacement of employees, power and communication outages, loss of equipment and spare parts, and feeble financial resources.
These factors have affected the continuity of municipal services and the ability of community committees to interact and sustain accountability practices, prompting the municipality to develop decentralized communication methods and activate alternative roles for members in neighborhood committees.
Innovative tools for emergency response: Field committees and youth councils being formed
To deal with the war, the municipality relied on forming neighborhood committees who would operate water wells, distribute barrels, remove waste, and relay complaints. It is also currently working on forming an advisory committee for the municipal council that includes representatives from various community sectors and a youth council to increase participation and public oversight.
The report showed progress in adopting policies that ensure a minimum level of community communication and internal oversight, despite the unprecedented devastating conditions.
At the level of community participation
On the level of community participation, the report recommends the need to institutionalize flexible and applicable patterns during emergencies, based on digital and secure tools that ensure the continuity of communication and participation even in the most difficult circumstances. It also emphasizes the importance of involving representatives of the residents in the shelters within organizational structures that contribute to enhancing their effective participation in the service delivery process.
The report also recommends the expansion of municipal partnerships with civil society organizations and the private sector, as this empowers community contribution in setting priorities and monitoring performance. There should also be a greater investment in technological solutions, which would engage youth and marginalized communities, and enhance the effectiveness of community participation in planning, implementation and accountability.
At the level of accountability
As for accountability, the report emphasized the importance of developing simplified digital tools that allow citizens to track complaints and express their opinions about the municipality's performance, even in the event of destruction of infrastructure or the absence of field presence. The report also mentioned the need to prepare a written plan to organize decision-making mechanisms during emergencies, ensuring it includes documentation and review methods later, to guarantee transparency and prevent unilateral decision-making.
It also cited of the need to develop an effective system for measuring the quality of municipal services with scientific measuring tools to evaluate opinion polls and specific performance indicators, in addition to enhancing documentation of financial and administrative data and documents, to ensure the readiness of the internal review and external audit processes as soon as the conditions allow, and to enhance citizens' trust in municipal work.
Yahya Al-Sarraj: Gaza Municipality is making great efforts to maintain the minimum standard of living and enhance resilience.
In his remarks, the Mayor of Gaza, Mr. Yahya Al-Sarraj, highlighted the most significant challenges facing the residents amid the ongoing aggression, affirming that the crisis of food and water shortage has become the most dangerous, paralleled with the reality of killing and destruction, which has become a daily part of the lives of the people, especially children, women, and the elderly.
He also pointed out that the municipality is working hard to maintain the lowest standard of living and boost the people’s resilience under extremely harsh conditions, where a drop of water has become equivalent to a drop of blood.
Sarraj also reported that the internal monitoring unit was temporarily disrupted during the first phase of the aggression, but it gradually resumed its work with the beginning of the second truce and is currently operating normally and regularly.
The need to shift from a centralized work model to a participatory national model led by local authorities
In his remarks, Dr. Azmi Al-Shuaibi, advisor to the Board of Directors of the AMAN Coalition for Anti-Corruption Affairs, stated that the real challenge facing officials in Palestine is the ability to work under emergency and oppressive conditions like those experienced in the Gaza Strip, which are gradually extending to the West Bank. Al-Shuaibi praised the performance of the Mayor of Gaza, Yahya Al-Sarraj, and considered him a model of an accountable official ready to bear responsibility in the most difficult circumstances.
Shuaibi also pointed out that the current situation imposes a long-term emergency because of the settler occupation that seeks to weaken the Palestinian central authority and erase the idea of an independent state. As a result, the role of municipalities has emerged as entities capable of filling the void left by the decline of the authority's institutions, not only in providing traditional municipal services but also in areas of relief, shelter, and basic services such as health, education, and social protection.
Al-Shuaibi suggested that municipalities, led by the Gaza Municipality, should transform into a model of a "local government" that leads community efforts in light of the near-complete collapse of the central system.
He emphasized the importance of empowering municipalities technically and financially and granting them sufficient authority to coordinate work with various sectors, including the remaining ministries, UNRWA, the Chamber of Commerce, and civil society institutions. He also called on the Union of Local Authorities to start preparing the municipalities for this pivotal role in the West Bank, in anticipation of the same conditions taking place there.
Al-Shuaibi concluded his observations by emphasizing the need to shift from a centralized work model to a participatory national model led by local authorities and the community, especially because citizens today do not have the luxury of choice; they are looking for the bare minimum of services that preserve their dignity and survival.
Requirements: More empowering of civil society in light of institutional vacuum and the absence of a central authority
In his observations, Dr. Ghassan Abu Hatab from the Center for Development Studies at Birzeit University stated that the systematic destruction of Gaza is an attempt to uproot life and erase the foundations of survival. He believes the determination of the Gaza Municipality to continue performing its duties despite the dire circumstances are commendable, but that does not eliminate the need to keep the related experiences and reports subject to scientific critique and objective review.
Abu al-Hatab also highlighted the conditions of the shelters, describing their management as chaotic and lacking accountability mechanisms, with allegations of corruption documented in previous reports. He called for the restructuring of these centers by forming democratic community groups that ensure genuine representation of various segments of society, including women, youth, and people with disabilities.
As for the neighborhood committees, he stressed that they must be elected democratically, pointing out that most of them do not reflect the true societal diversity. He cited the experience of Khan Younis, where elections were frozen after the results were unsatisfactory to the controlling authorities. He emphasized that limiting the local community to an executive role without involving them in decision-making deepens the gap between municipalities and citizens.
Abu Al-Hatab concluded his remarks by saying that addressing the institutional vacuum and societal collapse in Gaza requires empowering civil society and grassroots structures to take over their role, particularly because of the systematic elimination of the central authority and the destructive colonial project that aims to dismantle the foundations of the Palestinian state and society.
A clear and comprehensive emergency plan based on the formation of community support committees comprised of volunteers
Ms. Amal Siyam, Director of the Women's Affairs Center in Gaza, confirmed that the report emphasizes the importance of accountability and community participation, which remain essential in matters related to waste removal or providing fuel and safety for workers—tasks that far exceed the municipality's capabilities in the absence of protection from direct targeting of its crews.
Ms. Siyam called for expanding the partnership between the municipality and civil society institutions, especially those working in emergency situations, to allow for the distribution of tasks, exchange of resources, and enhanced integration in service delivery.
She also suggested that the municipality work on forming community support committees from volunteers capable of reaching shelters and population centers, stressing that there are significant youth energies willing to volunteer despite hunger and poverty, and these should be invested in supporting people.
Siyam further emphasized the obligation of the Gaza Municipality to have a clear and comprehensive emergency plan, based on the challenges outlined in the report, which would build upon the available human and material resources and include a clear vision for temporary shelter. She indicated that the Gaza Municipality, being one of the oldest and largest municipalities in Palestine, should lead this model to serve as a reference for other municipalities in crisis management.
While Abdullah Sharshara, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Ajyal Foundation, proposed developing a scientific model to measure accountability in times of emergency. He stated that under exceptional conditions such as the ongoing genocidal war in the Gaza Strip, traditional models for measuring performance or accountability are not suitable for such contexts.
Sharshara emphasized that the Palestinian society, currently experiencing the unique situation of a war of extermination and ethnic cleansing, has the opportunity to develop a global model for a system of humanitarian accountability in times of disasters. He called for the documentation of these experiences and building upon them to serve the afflicted communities around the world.
The AMAN Coalition called for enhancing solidarity and cooperation among various actors to support the Gaza Municipality in fulfilling its duties, emphasizing that working under the current conditions is a tremendous burden and a national and humanitarian necessity.
