End of Year 2005 Message of Thanks
&
Summary of Significant Achievements
We are writing
to express our gratitude and heartfelt thanks for your
tremendous support for PARC and its affiliated associations
in the year 2005, and to highlight some of the milestone
achievements of our organization during this year. We wish
to confer these achievements to all of our volunteers,
friends, partners and donors both locally and
internationally. Your morale and financial invaluable
support is highly appreciated by our board of directors,
staff, and off-shoot organizations who dedicated all and
every single effort to provide qualitative services to rural
communities on our way towards achieving sustainable
agricultural and rural development.
To strengthen
our national and social struggle as well as the values and
culture of civil society, PARC participated very actively in
the nation- wide campaign to change the electoral laws of
the legislative elections. The campaign resulted in the
accession of the mixed election law (proportional and
district systems) as well as endorsing the woman quota
system in the proportional lists. Moreover, PARC increased
its role in the municipal council elections held in 2005 by
supporting tens of rural activists to run and win seats in
the local councils. The most important message that PARC
wished to pass is to have impact on the decision-makers
regarding sustainable rural development through democratic
processes.
On the
other hand, PARC intensified its support to the
Palestinian families affected by the apartheid wall. We
provided 117 dunums of green houses with plastic covers,
developed 243 home gardens, constructed 75 cisterns, and
distributed 247 polyethylene tanks for rainwater
harvesting for villages affected by the wall. Moreover,
PARC created 73,009 temporary working days in favor of
3,255 workers.
To promote
PARC’s position with regard to new developments
occurring locally and globally, we issued tens of
updates on various subject matters in Arabic, English
and French. We hoped to keep our friends and partners
posted on the impact of these events on the rural sector
and on our work. We pointed toward progressing our
integration into the global effort campaigning for
social justice and for respectful livelihoods for all,
particularly for rural people. For this purpose, PARC
attended conferences and meetings held locally,
regionally and globally, and enhanced its cooperation
with various organizations and networks.
PARC’s major
achievement in 200
5
occurred in its activities aiming at protecting and
developing of natural resources (land and water) and
increasing their productivity. For example, opening and
rehabilitation of 11 km of agricultural roads,
development of 978 dunums of marginal lands by
constructing of 46,629 square meter of stony retaining
walls, plantation of 14,224 seedlings and fencing of 150
dunums. Moreover, we increased water storage capacity
for rain water harvesting by 5,330 cubic meter by
construction of 82 cisterns for domestic and
agricultural use, construction of 14 cement pools,
setting up of 73 metallic reservoirs, and installing of
24 Tensiometer demonstrations for irrigation water
scheduling.
On the
other hand, PARC established Water User Association in
Jenin at Qabatia where 73 farmers working in intensive
farming and two well owners reached an agreement for
establishing a regulating body for water management.
In
gathering the fruits of our persisting endeavor to
improve the income of the Palestinian farmers, PARC and
its affiliates, the Arab Agronomist Association and
Al-Reef Company, obtained the EEC- regulated Organic
Certificate from the Center of Organic Agriculture in
Egypt as well as the Palestinian Olive Oil Quality
Certificate from the Palestinian Standard Institution.
Accordingly, the AAA has become the first organic
inspection body in Palestine while ARC has become the
first body to export Palestinian organic products. These
certificates will add a significant competitive value in
the local and external markets to the locally produced
almonds, palm dates, couscous and olive oil. Thus, we
hoped to usher further progress in environment friendly
practices and sustainable agriculture.
On the
other hand, PARC’s technical staff and the AAA managed
to produce bumble bees locally and distribute them to
farmers at a lower price than the Israeli price.
PARC
achieved a very important breakthrough toward the
creation of a specialized union, which contains the
membership of 12 central rural women saving and credit
associations. Despite of its recent establishment in
February 2005, the Union managed to join the Palestinian
General Cooperative Union. As such we succeeded to
integrate active women leaders to the Palestinian
cooperative movement. Additionally, we contributed to
the founding of a national network based on cooperative
principles and values.
Another
significant breakthrough was achieved by the
establishment of 12 rural women community- based
organizations (women’s clubs) across the West Bank and
Gaza Strip. It is hoped that these grassroots
organizations, which have joined the Rural Women’s
Development Society, will play a very central role on
the way to achieve the political, social and economic
rights of the rural women. It is worth noting that
rural women’s clubs succeeded to record the highest per
cent of elected candidates to village councils compared
to PARC’s other affiliates. Out of 52 seats achieved by
PARC’s affiliates, women obtained 29 seats making 56%.
Towards
developing the socio-economic and administrative
capacities of the Palestinian farmers, 43 saving and
credit cooperatives were established during 2005. Their
savings totaled to (528000) US dollar enabled them to
dispense 606 loans that were invested in productive
agricultural projects and purchasing inputs for
production like seeds, treatments, animals food, etc.
To enhance
youths’ participation in decision-making and create
leaders capable of leading social movements, PARC
implemented an EU-funded project which aimed at training
youths to collectively identify and lobby for local
issues of concern in Palestinian villages throughout the
West Bank and Gaza. It is worth noting that the youth
leaders engaged in the project in Bazaria village near
Nablus have run for the council elections and won most
of the seats there.
To activate and
maintain its sustainability and distinction through
developing the internal environment and human resources,
PARC inaugurated the MIS for its administrative
processes and projects. Thus, PARC centered its
attention on developing its employees, to whom
qualitative services are provided. The MIS will enable
PARC to economize on employees’ time and effort in
obtaining the logistical services. As well, it will
facilitate the analysis of the current situation and
planning for the future of the Organization’s human
resources.
During 2005, PARC and
Smart Frame productions produced a 60 minute documentary
film “The Iron Wall” covering the issue of the Israeli
colonies that are clearly a major obstacle for the Peace
Process that started in the last century based on the
principle of "Land for Peace". The documentary covers
the history of the Israeli settlements in the
Palestinian Occupied Territories, their locations,
population, and infrastructure including the road
network and finally the construction of the wall to
protect the settlements and to annex them to the state
of Israel. The film will be previewed officially in
Palestine during the month of January 2006 and was
registered for Al Jazeera film festival to take place in
March 2006.
In the end, we take the opportunity to extend our best
wishes to each one of you and to all the communities
around the world for happy and peaceful holidays of
Christmas, New Year and Eid El-Adha.
Ghada Zughayar,
Assistant to the
General Director for External Relations
