Civil Society Organizations Elect New Coordinating Committee, Approve Administrative and Financial Reports, and Set Action Plan for the Next Phase

SadaNews - The General Assembly of the Palestinian Network of Civil Society Organizations recommended working to revitalize the foundations of civil work in confronting the occupation measures that fall within attempts to end and liquidate Palestinian existence, continuing the open genocide war. It called for coordinated efforts that include the Palestinian territories amid attempts to impose the status quo as part of the annexation plan and the Judaization of Jerusalem. This requires strengthening the role of civil work in all areas and developing plans and projects to support villages and towns subject to ongoing attacks. The meeting recommended working to protect the civil work space and resisting attempts to reduce it, alongside opening serious dialogue with official bodies based on the law and respecting the right to form associations and protecting public freedoms. The meeting, held simultaneously in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, also called for expanding international campaigns and increasing pressure and advocacy efforts, intensifying endeavors to demand the imposition of international sanctions on the occupying state, reviewing many countries' funding issues and its conditions, and reconsidering relations with international institutions, prioritizing the work of local institutions. The meeting urged diligent efforts to launch local campaigns strengthening civil society's voice and its national presence, accompanied by building the capacities of member institutions and increasing their effectiveness in the face of looming dangers, while adhering to the legitimate national rights represented by the right of return, self-determination, and national independence.

The meeting, held in the Medical Relief Hall in Ramallah, opened after verifying the legal quorum by observing a minute of silence and mourning for the souls of the martyrs, followed by a welcoming speech from Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi on behalf of the network's coordinating committee, emphasizing the challenges facing the Palestinian people at this stage due to ethnic cleansing and genocide policies. He addressed the targeting of civil society's operational space and attempts to dry up funding sources for institutions through pro-occupation lobby groups, punishing civil organizations based on their stance, and calling for building broader international alliances and solidarity movements with the Palestinian people. He demanded the cessation of competition between international institutions and local civil institutions and reviewed the network's key fields of work in the upcoming phase and the importance of expanding its existing ones towards alliances and coalitions in threatened areas to serve citizens' issues and support resilience and survival capabilities.

Subsequently, the administrative and financial reports of the network, which operates as a unified body in the West Bank, including Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, were approved, including a review of the main interventions within the network's strategic objectives based on the national dimension and addressing citizens' issues in the occupied Palestinian territories, alongside monitoring policies and legislation as well as pressure and advocacy campaigns at the local, regional, and international levels, expanding work with camp committees and issues of settlement and prisoners, in addition to internal issues, protecting the rights of marginalized and poor groups, and reviewing economic and social policies. Many contributions were presented that contribute to developing work and activating the public authority institutions in line with the vision and objectives, broadening work horizons that restore consideration for many issues that have regressed during the previous phase.

The coordinating committee submitted its resignation and a committee was formed to oversee the elections, where 17 member institutions nominated themselves, resulting in the election of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society, Agricultural Development Association, Wasel Center for Youth Development, Mothers' School, Jerusalem Legal Aid Center, Palestinian Working Woman Society, Al-Haq Organization, Teacher Creativity Center, Palestinian Hydrologists Association, Al-Dameer Association, Civil Society for Judicial Independence, Dr. Haidar Abdul Shafi Center for Culture and Development, Community Health Return Association, Aysha Association for the Protection of Women and Children, Gaza Group for Culture and Development, Women's Affairs Center, Agricultural Work Committees Union, Social Development Association, Our Children for the Deaf Association. A meeting to divide tasks is scheduled to be held in the coming days.