Australian and Palestinian Partners Working Together to Help Poor Families in the Northern Areas of the West Bank CARE Australia with CARE West Bank and Gaza have been accepted by AusAid as partners of the Australian Middle East NGO Cooperation Agreement (AMENCA) program. A workshop was held in Ramallah on the 28- 29 June with participants from Australia and the West Bank area. Sam Zappia, Director of the Iraq, Middle East, and Afghanistan Section in AusAid, and Jan Goldsworthy, of the Middle East desk in AusAid, both attended the workshop to introduce the AMENCA program to Palestinian partners. The partners in the AMENCA program include CARE Australia, CARE International in the West Bank and Gaza with the Arab Research Institute and the Economic and Social Development Center, World Vision Australia and the Union of Agricultural Work Committees with World Vision Jerusalem, and AustCare with Bissan Center. The workshop also discussed ways in which all the partners of the AMENCA program could effectively coordinate and cooperate in the design and implementation of activities. CARE, together with Arab Research Institute and the Economic and Social Development Center, will design a project for the rural areas of Jenin and Tubas in the northern West Bank that will aim to improve the livelihood opportunities of vulnerable communities. Based on the SAFES’s model (Sustainable Access to Food and Economic Security), carried out by CARE West Bank and Gaza, the new project will focus on agricultural livelihoods and explore opportunities for improved access to markets for small farmers to increase their income. In order to build the capacity of communities at the village level, CARE, the Arab Research Institute, and the Economic and Social Development Center, will identify civil society organizations that will communicate the agricultural messages, and increase the ability of individual farmers to negotiate bigger profits and reduce costs of agricultural inputs through working together as a group. The project will provide these groups with support and training in good governance. It is very exciting that AusAid has provided the AMENCA partners with this opportunity to cooperate and share information and experiences between the NGOs. Elizabeth Sime, Country Representative, CARE West Bank and Gaza, stated: “I am delighted that Australian and Palestinian partners will design this project together. Also we thank AusAid. This project will serve individuals and families in the poorest communities and strengthen local capacities.”

Photos Jan Goldsworthy, of the Middle East Desk in AusAid, speaking to participants in the workshop in Ramallah