Number of participants آ 51 Percentage of women that attended None (0%) Percentage of women that spoke-up None (0%) Key Speakers Salim Abu Iyadeh,, Head of Gaza Valley Village Council .
Sifyan Abu Samra,, Director of Projects Department, Ministry of Local Government.
Abdul Rahim Abu Al Qumbuz, Director of the Sanitation Department, the Municipality of Gaza.
Yunis Ghalyeh, Director of the Sanitation Department, the Municipality of Beit Lahia.
Sifyan Hamad, Director of the Municipality of Beit Hanun.
Summary of issues raised by the public Gaza Valley Village is one of the most marginalized areas in the Gaza Strip.
It lacks many of the basic services.
None of the village's roads is paved and it becomes difficult for people to use them in the winter, especially school boys and girls.
The most dangerous problem in the village resulted from the use of its roads to transport garbage by eight Municipalities.
The environmental conditions in the village are deteriorating due to the dust in summer and clay in the winter.
In some cases, people died because they couldn,t be taken to hospital.
Cars cannot use the roads in winter, and in summer, the dust caused disease, especially to children.
The agricultural is also deteriorating in the village due to the huge amounts of dust resulting from lorries use of unpaved roads.
Summary of answers given by the guest speakers key guests understand the problem and its impact on the population in the village.
Efforts have been carried out to solve the problem, but failed until today.
The road under question length reaches 5.
5 kilometers and it is not easy to recruit fund to pave it.
The contact with the world Bank is essential to resolve the situation in the village.
The guests are ready to take part in it.
The guests are also ready to follow up the problem after the meeting with Al Mezan and the population.
The Ministry and the Municipalities are interested in resolving the problem before the winter approaches.
The Ministry of Local Government agrees that the village is marginalized, so there will be effort to improve the services soon.
Planned and undertaken follow-up of issues raised:
Al Mezan received deligates from the village five times at its office in Gaza.
A plan to follow up the problem was developed.
This included developing a petition, to be signed by the population and several municipalities.
Afterwards, the center arranged for a meeting with the Deputy Minister of Housing and discussed the problem with him.
Also, the center invited Mr.
Abu Samra and Mr.
Abu Iyadeh to take part.
Moreover, the center contacted the same Ministry, the Ministry of Local Government and the World Bank Office in Gaza on the same issue.
Also, the center covered the issue in the local media and prepared a special booklet on the meeting's proceedings and follow up.
This meeting is a good example for people to follow and solve other problems.
Actual improvements achieved, if any:
The fruits of the follow up were fast and clear as the Ministry of Housing agreed to make the pavement of the road its first priority.
The center was informed by the Village Council of Gaza Valley that work has started on the project less than a month after the meeting.
Summary of evaluation forms of participants and speakers:
The participants expressed their satisfaction on the meeting's theme and arrangements.
They also considered the key speakers performance very good.
Key speakers said that the meeting meets one of the most important priorities in the Gaza Strip.