The signing ceremony was held at NDC office in Al-Ram, and GIAs were signed by Mr. Ghassan Kasabreh, NDC director, and beneficiary NGO representatives. The singing ceremony was also attended by Mrs. Jamileh Sahliyeh, Grants’ Programs Manager, Mr. Shadi Qara’, Finance and Administrative Manager, and the HR/GG team namely, Ma’moun ‘Attili and Luna Barakat.
Mrs. Jamileh Sahliyeh started the ceremony by welcoming the attendees and presenting a brief introduction about NDC and the programs it offers to the Palestinian NGO sector. She also explained the needed procedures for the implementation of the project and its subsequent phases. Mrs. Sahlieh confirmed that those grants came in response to the emergency intervention needs of NGOs working in the fields of human rights and good governance in the oPt and to enhance their role in improving the living conditions of the most affected Palestinians by the Israeli occupation and its continuous violations to human rights. Additionally, the singed agreements compel NGOs to complete the implementation of their proposed plans by end of this year.
It is worth mentioning that NDC was selected by the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC) (on behalf of Switzerland and 3 other donor countries, namely Denmark, Netherlands and Sweden) to establish and manage a Human Rights and Good Governance NGO Secretariat in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. As Secretariat, NDC serves as the program management unit responsible for channeling pooled donor funding, supporting coordinated initiatives and joint capacity building initiatives, and strengthening policy dialogue for NGOs that are working to promote and protect Human Rights/Good Governance in West Bank and Gaza Strip. An amount of 6 million USD was allocated to implement this program over a period of 18 months (July, 2008- January, 2009) as a first Phase.