The Palestinian local governance sector continues to face numerous challenges that hinder its prosperity and strategic development. One of the major challenges is the severed relationship between municipal councils and citizens. As a result, citizens are not involved in setting the priorities for their municipalities’ spending, do not express dissatisfaction with services, and do not hold municipal councils accountable for improving development and transparency.

When services fail to meet citizens' needs and expectations, and citizens do not effectively hold municipalities accountable for their services, they become less inclined to pay taxes and municipal fees. Citizens no longer see municipalities as service providers they can rely on, which severs the relationship between them. Consequently, citizens become disinterested in paying for services they do not receive, especially when no justifications are provided for this.

Targeted Areas: Yatta, Dura, Tarqumiyah

Objectives:

Establish active social accountability committees in the targeted areas to lead community work and participation.

Equip the established committees with the necessary knowledge in social accountability (SA), participation, and advocacy leadership.

Provide social accountability tools and procedures for prioritizing issues among citizens in the targeted areas.

Enhance and activate the participation of youth and women in local governance processes.

Support the community in implementing the social accountability tool "Citizen Report Card."

Strengthen the role of community actors within social accountability committees for planning and implementing social accountability procedures and advocacy during and after project implementation.

Support the improvement of relationships, communication, and services between citizens and municipalities.