*The following story appeared in the Al-Quds newspaper in the West Bank on January 20, 2009.

Hebron, West Bank — January 20, 2009 — Mr. Khaled Al-Osaily, head of Hebron municipality, met yesterday in his office with Eng. Naim El-Mani, Chief of Party of the IRD-INP project, Mr. Scott Short, Head of MWH, Mr. Tawfik Arafeh, city Engineer and members of Hebron Municipal Council, to discuss the details of the joint potential projects and the implementation of “Al-Quds School” in the southern suburb of Hebron.

Mr. Al-Osaily began the meeting by explaining the urgent need of Hebron city which suffers from the lack of suitable classrooms and the evening classes, that exhaust the schoolchildren and negatively affect their educational level and progress, and their relationship with their parents.

Mr. Al-Osaily mentioned, that Hebron Municipality is working hard to raise funds from the Palestinian, Arab, International organizations that support Palestinians to build new schools and increase the number of class rooms. This is considered one of the most essential needs for the city, in specific and for the Palestinian society, in general.  In addition, he discussed a number of currently implemented projects by IRD.

Regarding the construction of “Al-Quds School”, approximately $2m, funded by USAID and implemented by IRD, Mr. Al-Osialy said that it is one of the best projects that covers an urgent need and helps reduce the suffering of the residents of the occupied Southern suburb of Hebron, a high density area, still under the Israeli occupation and lacks from classrooms for students. The new school is being built on a land donated by the Municipality of Hebron. It includes 18 model classrooms, labs, offices, bathrooms and playgrounds. Mr. Al Osaily added that more funding should be targeting the emerging and urgent needs in Hebron.

Mr. Naim El-Mani said that IRD will seriously study and evaluate the projects proposed by the Municipality of Hebron and their urgent needs. Mr. Elmani promised to help in implementing a number of projects in Hebron and asked the Municipality to provide IRD with their feedback and remarks regarding the implemented projects and to enhance the cooperation between both parties.

At the end of the meeting the attendants went on a tour to visit the Municipality’s facilities and current projects.

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