Report on the "Youth and people control over the functioning of public institutions and private organizations in Palestine" workshop

Office of Financial Supervision and Administration and Sharek Youth Forum organize a workshop on “Youth and people control over the functioning of public institutions and private organizations in Palestine "

Ramallah- Sharek Youth Forum-May 7, 2008: specialists emphasized the necessity and need for activating and revitalization of popular control, particularly the youth, for the work and functioning of government and civil institutions, proceeding from the principle embodiment of integrity, transparency and accountability, and ensuring the protection of public funds.

This came during a workshop organized, yesterday, by debt management and financial control in cooperation with Sharek Youth Forum, at the latter's headquarters in Ramallah, on the "Youth and people control over the functioning of public institutions and private organizations in Palestine", with the participation of the President of the Office of Financial Supervision and Administration, Dr. Mahmoud Abu Rab, Second Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Council Dr. Hassan Khreesheh, an economist and lecturer at BirZeit University Dr. Nasr Abdul Kareem, and the Executive Director of Sharek Youth Forum, Bader Zama’reh, in the presence of over 180 students of Bir Zeit University and the Ramallah Women’s Training Center (El-Tireh), within the project “Media Youth for Human Rights in Palestine”.

The President of the Office of Financial Supervision and Administration, Dr. Mahmoud Abu Rab, emphasized the need to define the philosophy of work, to be able to exercise supervision and inspection in order to bring about development in the context of work and good performance, alluding to the need to draw lessons from errors that come up during work, pointing out the existence of deliberate errors which require accountability, stressing that the basis for change always starts from the youth and the student movement who can always bring about change, however legally.

Dr. Abu Rab stated that we must rise in supervision and auditing to the level of application of the law, starting from the top of the political pyramid, renewing emphasis on the importance of popular control which can be exercised to participate in elections on the basis of efficiency, and in the opinion polls safely, and report cases of corruption and abuse of public funds.

He said that there has never been a young view that’s gone too far in pressing corruption, presenting the findings of the latest report of the SAI, and working mechanisms.

In turn, the Second Vice-President of the Legislative Council Dr. Hassan Khreesheh, stressed the importance of control over the various organs of power criticizing the lack of presentation of an annual budget to the Legislative Council over the past years, stressing that members of the Legislative Council had been briefed on the current budget for the government, touching on a number of cases including cases of deaths investigated by members of the Legislative Council, through which they exercise their supervision even under the circumstances we are going through, stressing that the legislature approved the Law of illicit gain.

Dr. Khreesheh focused on the point that the law provides for retroactive effect in the follow-up issues of illicit gain, expressing regret for not forming an illicit gain. He called on young people to take their role in society and the issue of deputies and parties stealing democracy from them, and accounting for the political system.

For his part, Dr. Nasr Abdul Kareem, followed by stressing the poor performance of the Authority whether on a  financial or administrative level questioning the purpose or aim of the reports of the Office of Financial Supervision and Administration’s role if the debt is limited to documenting administrative and financial abuses, assuring that over the past years and in reports issued by the Superintendency, there was no follow-up of any person accused of corruption or misuse of public resources, legal imprisonment, or even been taking any legal action against them, assuring the need of the supervision firm to follow the system in terms of performance, efficiency and motivation of staff and access to financial statements.

Abdul Karim added that in light of the presence of the occupation and lack of resources and limitations, Palestine must be made free of corruption and must not speak of freedom and independence in the presence of corruption, we must go back and correct enterprises within the law and system and only then will conversations of liberation and freedom become easier, demanding that the youth take the leading role in society whether it be in the financial control or administration, and exercise control over themselves and others when they receive positions.

The workshop was opened by the Executive Director of Sharek Youth Forum, Bader Zama’reh, providing an overview on the workshop and work mechanisms at the Forum, stressing the need to strengthen oversight of community and youth on all public bodies and private organizations to promote the principle of transparency in society, stressing that the continued administrative and financial problems in institutions leads to a waste of resources.