Strengthening German-Palestinian Partnerships in Times of Crisis

Online, September 13-15, 2021. At the fifth German-Palestinian municipal partnership conference, held in cooperation with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), of course the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on partnership cooperation was discussed. Here, there was a quick consensus: the personal contact and joint project work on site, which have not been possible since March 2020, are missing. However, it was possible to absorb much through intensive virtual exchange and to continue the partnership work. Some partnerships also use SKEW's Corona Solidarity Fund to initiate new projects. The cities of Al Aizaria and Krefeld, for example, used its financial support to purchase a vehicle functioning as a mobile hygiene station.

The participants made it clear that projects in the field of renewable energies, water supply or tourism, for example, could make their everyday lives much easier. Abdelafo Aker, Director of International Relations at the City of Nablus, said of the difficult political situation, "We have two options: Conflict or dialogue. We are here at this conference because we want to show that we all share the same values and want dialogue."

The projects presented at the virtual conference are dedicated for example to an improved drinking water supply (Beitunia - Moers), the promotion of start-ups (Hebron - Mannheim) and the development of a geographic information system (Beit Jala - Jena). The use of renewable energies in particular is an important issue for Palestinian municipalities: if they use more solar energy, they save energy costs and become less dependent on external energy supplies. Thus, the presentation of the energy projects between Bethlehem and Cologne on energy-efficient street lighting and the use of solar energy for this purpose also met with great interest at the conference.

Since the beginning of 2021, the project "Partnerships with municipalities in the Palestinian Territories" has been in a new phase, which primarily supports the consolidation and qualitative development of the partnership work. To this end, the project team has developed thematic forums in which German and Palestinian municipalities can exchange expertise in the future, not only bilaterally in their own partnerships, but also with other municipalities in the network working on similar topics. "We would like to use this to stimulate a transfer of knowledge and experience, because not every partnership or municipality has to reinvent the wheel," says Nicole Pietzka, head of the project at SKEW.

In order to make partnerships sustainable, they have to rest on many pillars, according to the results from the working groups. In his closing statement to the conference, the former lord mayor of Jena and honorary ambassador for municipal development policy, Dr Albrecht Schröter, emphasized: "The decisive factor in partnerships is that they develop as partnerships between citizens. Civil society, partnership associations on both sides are extremely important in this! They are guarantors that something can continue, which can be jeopardized or even broken off by a change at the political top of a city [...] However, the support and a framework from the city administrations is crucial."