Due to decades of occupation the economic development of Palestine is severely hindered. Today, more than twenty years after the signing of the Oslo-agreements, the economic situation has even significantly deteriorated and the Palestinian Territories are among the most aid-dependent places worldwide. Occupation and closure, donor driven aid paradigms as well as the neoliberal character of Palestinian domestic economic policies, leave only a small space for thinking and doing alternatives. However, this space should be used and challenged in order to break off the circle of dependency and to strengthen the capacities for self-determination and change. After years of academic research on the topic, RLS partners with local initiatives and cooperatives who challenge economic dependency through a debate on alternatives at community, national and international level and who practically implement progressive alternative approaches in the country.
2015 PARTNERS
Aid Watch Palestine
A new initiative that was launched in early 2015 by a number of Palestinian and foreign critical activists, aims at providing detailed information on aid mechanisms and polices and have it accessible for the Palestinian people, Outreach to student groups, youth groups, civil society organizations to engage them in efforts to analyze and improve aid, informing them on mechanisms to claim their rights and to Mobilize volunteers and forge organizational partnerships to broaden ownership of Aid Watch Palestine and increase community participation in advocacy for accountable aid.
For more information, please visit the organization’s Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/AidWatchPalestine?fref=ts
Association of Women’s Action for Training and Rehabilitation (AOWA)
The Association of Women’s Action for Training and Rehabilitation (AOWA) is a developmental organization established in 1994 by a group of active women from the Women Action Federation to elevate the role of Palestinian women and mobilize their capabilities in order to change the stereotypical perception of women’s role in society.
Project: “Model of a Women’s Cooperative – Second Phase”
AOWA has started to develop a progressive, collective women cooperative in the Old City of Hebron in 2013 that not only promotes income generating opportunities, but also lobbies for progressive social culture and gender equality and equity. In 2015, the cooperative shall start producing and marketing educational wooden toys for kids, furniture, and other items. The women would draw up the blueprints, use heavy machinery, and sell these goods which is not typical in Palestine and would mark the start of women run industrial production.
For more information, please visit the organization’s website:
Center for Development Studies – Birzeit University
The Center for Development Studies (CDS) at Birzeit University is a leading source of knowledge about Palestinian development. Established in 1997, the CDS aims to deepen and engage with the concept of development by offering theoretical and conceptual frameworks.
Project 1: “Documentary about “Alternatives to Neo-liberal Development”
The CDS has been extensively researching the flow of foreign aid into Palestine from a critical perspective. It has conducted research about various fields of international development assistance to Palestine and its controversial impact on the Palestinian path towards development. In 2015, CDS will sculpture the accumulated knowledge in a documentary film to foster outreach and debate.
Project 2: “Social Fragmentation and the City”
In a second project, CDS will start researching questions of social fragmentation, public space, suburbanization, and gentrification, using the city of Ramallah as a starting point.
For more information, please visit the organization’s website:
Dalia Association
Dalia has been registered as a non-profit organization in Belgium and in Palestine since 2007, and since then it has assigned as its focus on realizing Palestinian control on local resources and the sustainability of their own outlined development. Dalia has developed its’ programs and since then, has aimed at and working to mobilize and proper utilization of resources necessary to empower a vibrant, independent, and accountable civil society in Palestine.
Project: “The Village Decides”
In 2015, Dalia will work with all actors and stakeholders in two villages in the West Bank to organize a professional process which aims at documenting and striving to meet village needs. This will be done collectively and for the benefit of all parties involved.
For more information, please visit the organization’s website and/or Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dalia-Association/105648216180653?fref=ts