Ramallah - "Jerusalem" dot com - The joint steering committee concerned with the Japanese grant project to support infrastructure projects in the West Bank camps approved the amendments to the Japanese grant projects, and approved the achievement of related indicators in accordance with the approved terms and plans.

A meeting was held by the committee, today, Tuesday, at the headquarters of the Department of Refugee Affairs in Ramallah, in the presence of a member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, head of the Department of Affairs, Ahmed Abu Holi, the Japanese Ambassador Masayuki Magushi, the main representative of the JICA office in Palestine, Toshiya Abe, and JICA staff via online from Tokyo, JICA staff of experts, Ministry of Finance staff, representatives of the International Relief Agency and members of the counterpart team from the Refugee Affairs Department.

Abu Holi appreciated the continuous Japanese support for the State of Palestine, the International Relief Agency "UNRWA" and the Palestinian camps, which contributed to improving the camps and supporting development in Palestine.

He expressed his appreciation to the Japanese ambassador for the services he provided throughout his tenure in Palestine, especially paying attention to supporting the Palestinian camps and his stances in support of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, wishing him success in his new mission.

He stressed the importance of following up on the progress of the infrastructure projects in the three camps (Aqaba Jabr, Askar al-Qadim, and Jalazoun), which were selected according to the project implementation guide, appreciating the progress made in the joint coordination mechanism of the partners and its great successes that reflect positively on the refugee population, especially in the Palestinian camps. At home and abroad.

Abu Holi pointed out that the department is making every effort to cooperate with partners, especially UNRWA, and the Japanese and German side to support the camps in a way that does not conflict with UNRWA projects, and does not fall under its responsibilities according to the mandate granted to it by Resolution 302, stressing the need for projects to extend. JICA in general and the Camp Improvement Project to the Gaza Strip and to the diaspora camps in Lebanon and Syria.

For his part, Ambassador Magushi affirmed that his country's government will continue to support development projects in Palestine through the Japan Development Agency, and said that the success of the projects funded by Japan will contribute to providing a better life for Palestinian refugees in the camps.

He praised the cooperation and successes that culminated as a result of the joint work between the department's team and the Japanese side in supporting the residents of the refugee camps, wishing the continuation and progress of the project and achieving more successes.

For his part, the representative of the Ministry of Finance, Hussein Jaloudi, presented the cash flows of the grant and the financial audit process that is carried out based on a contract with an external auditor for the project, stressing that the Ministry welcomes any financial support from any donor to support the Palestinian camps, and that it is ready to cooperate in order to serve the camps.

The Director of the Projects and Planning Program at UNRWA, Hanadi Darwish, reviewed the expected work mechanism of UNRWA, which is based on clear foundations within common standards and a clear cooperation mechanism, appreciating the role of the Refugee Affairs Department in assisting UNRWA to address any obstacles facing its work in the camps and among refugees.

The Undersecretary of the Department, Anwar Hammam, presented the overall steps and activities led by the Department of Refugee Affairs to mobilize funding for projects approved in the Projects Guide, stressing the importance of a joint coordination mechanism with partners in UNRWA, the German Cooperation Agency, the Japanese Cooperation Agency, with the Department of Refugee Affairs, and the efforts made To attract additional donors to support refugee camps.

He also stressed the importance of the mechanism of financial flow of projects with the Ministry of Finance, pointing out that the department has achieved all the indicators required of it until this moment.

For his part, the Director General of the Camps and the Director of the Camps Improvement Project (in Seeb) Yasser Abu Kishk reviewed the progress of work in the grant and the implemented projects, while Eng. And the amendments made to some projects for approval, at a total estimated cost of ($2,928,200) for the three camps.

It is noteworthy that the joint steering committee consists of the Department of Refugee Affairs, the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and the Palestinian Ministry of Finance.

On the other hand, the members of the Joint Coordinating Committee, in a separate meeting held today at the headquarters of the Department of Refugee Affairs, approved the camps of the second step of the second phase of the camp improvement project, which included the camps: Aida, Askar Al-Jadeed, and Deir Ammar, and the selection mechanism.

The meeting discussed developing joint performance and coordination, and strengthening the participatory work methodology of community segments within the camps.

It also discussed the progress made in achieving camp improvement plans in the first-step camps within the camps of the second phase of the (Balseeb) project, which is based on the holistic and participatory approach, which are the camps: Ain Al-Sultan, Al-Fawwar, and Nur Shams, as well as what has been achieved in the field of launching community initiatives in them.

The director of the Jerusalem camps, Nancy al-Hindi, briefed the participants on the reality of the crowdfunding campaigns that targeted the camps of the first phase, the successes achieved and the challenges that faced the process of mobilizing crowdfunding via the Internet.