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.
