French Delegation visits Qabatya Municipality

In coordination with the EMPOWERS team, a delegation from the French Commission in Palestine visited Qabatya Municipality to further discuss the Municipality's proposal which was submitted earlier for funding.

Prepared mainly by the Municipality's Water Department together with the EMPOWERS team, the draft proposal aims at building local capacities to improve water resources management in Qabatya. The draft also included several pilot proposals that will be partly funded by EMPOWERS. The proposed pilots involve the purchase of water meters for farmers; the construction of agricultural ponds for rainwater harvesting; and equipping a computer lab to host and develop a comprehensive water-related database for the Municipality. This pilot also proposes to train seven municipality staff members on the use of GIS software.

After deliberating the various administrative and technical aspects of the draft proposal with the mayor and the head of the water department in the municipality, the French Consulate's technical coordinator expressed his satisfaction with the comprehensiveness of the proposal presented, in terms of issues and problems addressed; depth of analysis; and the solutions or interventions proposed.