Twenty-five representatives of various Palestinian municipalities, including Hebron, Jericho, Taffouh, Dura, Yatta, Kufur Ra`ri, Qalqilya, Qabalan and Rawabi, as well as the Palestinian Ministry of Local Government attended a five-day training on Local Economic Development last week. This training was held in Amman, Jordan where Mr. Aladeen Shawa, senior advisor on local economic development with the UN conducted this training for The Hague Academy for Local Governance.
Mr. Shawa showed the participants the decisive role local government councils can play in promoting Local Economic Development in Palestine. The participants were presented with various specific tracks of actions and practical tools that they can use to identify possibilities and strengthen economic development in their municipalities. Local and national actors that can be used for the promotion of LED were identified, as well as means of financing initiatives. Institutional ways to manage this development were explained, with an emphasis on tools and ways of financing LED.
The group also visited a local economic and social development project and went to the Municipality of Zarqa where they were informed about the economic development unit and were welcomed by Mayor Imad Al Momani.
This training was organised in partnership with VNG International, the Palestinian Ministry of Local Government, and the Municipal Development and Lending Fund (MDLF). It is part of a broader LED project with the aim of rendering support to 13 municipalities in the West Bank.
