Management Report
- General Management (GM)
- Developing the Organizational Structure
- Media and Communications
- Diversification and Sustainability of Funding Sources
- Construction Activities
Similar to what happened globally, the Foundation faced serious challenges on several levels in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This had a clear impact on work plans and achievements. The State of Emergency in Palestine was declared on March 6, 2020 and continues throughout 2020. Also, periods of work from home varied from one month to another depending on, and in compliance with, the announcements of official parties. These periods also differed between the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and London, respectively. The pandemic significantly affected the nature of work and achievements in March, April, and May 2020 due to the complete lockdown of the Child Centre in Gaza, prohibiting public events and activities at the [A.M. Qattan] Foundation in Ramallah, and the prevalence of distance education. During this period, the work of the Child Centre in Gaza moved from open spaces to working groups with parents and children via Facebook, whereas the same was witnessed with the conducted work with teachers. With regard to the Public Programme (PP), face-to-face activities were stopped and replaced by the Foundation’s online platforms. This period saw the increased utilization of the Foundation’s archive and recently produced digital media materials, as well as sharing other parties’ products. With regard to the Culture and Arts Programme (CAP), a delay was seen in fulfilling the activities of approved grants due to the pandemic, and a new urgent grant called “Takatof” was created along with another one for individual artists. The Foundation’s staff returned to office at the end of May 2020, whereas the Foundation proceeded with its face-to-face activities afterwards (around July). However, this was done with varying degrees, in line with the announced measures by official parties.
In addition to the COVID-19 impediment and the subsequent changes on the level of individuals and structures in Palestine and abroad, the Foundation has been going through its own changes in the last couple of years. After moving to the new building (in 2019) and adopting the new Strategic Plan (2020-2024), the Foundation started a restructuring process during the reporting period. This took place in conjunction with the assessment study of the Educational Research and Development Programme (ERDP), which will set forth important future recommendations related to the nature of work and interventions.
A contract was signed with an external consultant (Mazen Hashweh) to complete the organizational structure and develop the salary scale, succession planning, and career development path. Also, a diagnostic report (i.e., situational assessment) was completed and presented, along with the evaluation of current and future projects and activities. There was also the development of project summaries, inputs, and required budgets, as well as presenting and adopting the new organizational structure. In total, there were 95 employees in the Foundation on December 31, 2020, 45% of whom are female and 55% are male.
Media and communications activities moved almost completely to online platforms, which in turn changed the overall priorities of the Foundation. For example, the Media Team’s plan in the first half of 2020 shifted towards online publications and visual productions.
A media committee was formed to produce and publish the Foundation’s educational and artistic materials, announcements, and projects in public spaces. In the first half of 2020, there was the preparation and publication of the [Foundation’s] YouTube page contents, as well as the archival materials’ montage and provision to the public. This gave electronic publishing a great impetus through helpful materials and presentations. Moreover, an account was created for the Foundation on “Flickr”, which paved the way for sharing visual exhibition albums in a wide public space. A “Google Business” page was also created for the Foundation due to the need to provide internet surfers and researchers with information about the Foundation via Google, along with familiarizing them about the Foundation’s activities through photos and an accessible public profile.
In order to obtain more diversified and sustainable sources of funding, the Foundation signed eight funding agreements during the reporting period, with a total amount of $2,486,151. This made 2020 the best year since 2016 in terms of the amount of raised funds. This included a new funding agreement with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) to finance the second phase of the “Culture, Arts, and Social Engagement” (CASE) project for 2020-2023. It also included the agreement with Drosos Foundation to support the vocational training program valued at $450,000 in a three-year period [2021-2023].
For the purpose of promoting environmentally friendly practices (whereas the Foundation’s new building is a green one), a decision was made to install solar panels (photovoltaic cells). In this respect, a contract was signed with an external consultant to study all possible scenarios for the buildings and land plots that will be used for this purpose. Additionally, there was the preparation of designs and schedules of quantities, and a tender was executed to implement the said project.
With regard to the building’s repair and renovation, the paving of the street that leads to parking lots at Basement 3was completed, through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the with Ramallah Municipality. Moreover, civil works of stone fences, basins, the irrigation infrastructure in the western garden, as well as Aluminium works in the external facades were finalized. Moreover, nearly 90% of the needed refurbishment works related to the electric and mechanical system, door control systems, blacksmithing activities, and building maintenance were done. Leakage from the main water tanks was solved and a contract was signed with a specialized company to assess the problems of rain-water leakage and design solutions; this was followed by issuing a tender for waterproofing works.