Movement of civil society organizations and small production units to create a supportive legal and policy environment for small projects in the Gaza Strip

Movement of civil society organizations and small production units to create a supportive legal and policy environment for small projects in the Gaza Strip

The Rural Women Development Association organized through the Palestinian Women Entrepreneurs Platform and its legal advisor, Dr. Salah Abdel-Aty launched her campaign to influence decision-makers with the aim of creating a supportive legal and policy environment for small and micro projects in the Gaza Strip. Her campaign came through holding a focus group with a representative group of cooperatives, associations, production units, and individual, family and collective projects to diagnose the challenges and obstacles that limit the development and growth of these units. After analyzing the outcomes of the meeting, a demand petition was prepared signed by (23 production and cooperative units from all over the Gaza Strip) representing the demands of production units, cooperatives and owners of small and micro projects.
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In order to strengthen the petition, the association arranged an interactive meeting with a number of active civil and international associations interested in supporting vulnerable groups and empowering them economically and socially to come up with a position paper approved by (18 local and international institutions) that supports the demands of the groups that signed the petition and stresses the importance of providing an environment and policies supportive of cooperative work and work entrepreneur
At the end of the first phase of its campaign, the association held a series of visits to the relevant ministries represented by agents and general managers of the specialized departments. The results were as follows:
Dr. Ehab Al-Ghussein, Undersecretary of the Palestinian Ministry of Labor in the Gaza Strip, stressed the importance of supporting productive units and cooperatives, stressing the eligibility of the demands of these groups and appreciating the position paper supporting them. In this context, he stressed that the Palestinian Ministry of Labor is working to provide a supportive environment for cooperative work and to enhance its culture among citizens in the Strip. Gaza, expressing the Ministry's readiness to cooperate with all the competent authorities to create a supportive policy environment for small and micro projects, while preserving the rights of its workers and ensuring that they obtain privileges and government assistance intended to support fragile and vulnerable groups until ensuring their development and improving their income.
In this context, Dr. Abdel-Fattah Al-Zuraie, Assistant Undersecretary of the Palestinian Ministry of National Economy in the Gaza Strip, stressed the importance of the role of small and entrepreneurial projects in combating poverty and unemployment, stressing that the Ministry is working to develop its policy in supporting small and micro projects by granting temporary industrial licenses that enhance Opportunities for their products to reach the market while ensuring that they receive government aid for vulnerable groups until their income improves to ensure their exit from the circle of poverty. He also explained that the ministry, through its import substitution policy, works to support local products by placing some restrictions on imported products that compete with local products.
Whereas, Dr. Hussam Al-Dajani, Director General of Public Relations and Information at the Palestinian Ministry of Social Development in the Gaza Strip, stressed the importance of creating a supportive policy environment for the establishment and development of small and micro projects to promote a culture of production in facing unemployment and fighting poverty, stressing that the Ministry of Social Development is ready to protect the rights of workers in These projects, especially in light of the repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic, are among the ministry's priorities
In the same context, M. Wael Thabet, Director General of the General Department of Planning and Policies at the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture in the Gaza Strip, states that the ministry is working to create a legal and policy environment to regulate the work of small projects, especially those based on manufacturing industries for agricultural products, believing in the effectiveness of this sector in facing the challenges facing the agricultural sector, stressing the importance Enhancing the access of these products to the market.
M confirmed. Ayman Ayesh, Director General of the General Department of Public Affairs and Non-Governmental Organizations, said that the Ministry is working to facilitate the registration processes for civil associations and provide the appropriate environment for them to achieve their goals, expressing the Ministry's readiness to participate in drawing up any supportive policies for small and micro projects, especially those projects that operate under the framework of civil associations registered with Ministry of Interior
While he welcomed Dr. Maher Al-Tabbaa, Director of Public Relations in the Palestinian Chamber of Commerce in the campaign, stressing the Chamber of Commerce’s readiness to provide the necessary facilities to grant productive units, cooperatives and small projects membership in the Chamber of Commerce, expressing the Chamber of Commerce’s readiness to participate in supporting any policies to support small projects and work to encourage investment with these sectors and support pioneering ideas in them
Mrs. Maha Al-Masri, the project manager and the coordinator of the Rural Women Development Association office in the Gaza Strip, confirmed that this campaign comes within the project of building the capacity of women to lead companies and cooperatives and to enhance the living conditions of women and young women in the Gaza Strip, funded by the Spanish Cooperation Agency Aecid. She expressed her hope that this campaign would achieve its goals