Program Definition:
The social solidarity program is a collection of interventions carried out by PARC in order to improve opportunities for citizens in obtaining the necessary humanitarian assistance.
Program Justification:
1. The large and visible prevalence of poverty in rural Palestine as a result of invasions and strict closures.
2. The expanding phenomenon whereby the ability to earn a living depends on political work, irrespective of the existence of urgent need for that political work.
3. The lack of mechanisms in place to ensure the minimum requirements of transparency and justice.
4. The dependence of many mechanisms on international aid, a situation exacerbated by increasing the number of beneficiaries while at the same time, squandering their dignity.
Program Range:
This program includes all rural Palestinian worksites and limits its services to marginalized communities.
Program Objective:
To build on active administrative and organizational models based on strengthening reliance on domestic resources and on ways to preserve the dignity of people through enhancing their productivity rather than increasing their dependence.
Program Philosophy:
• Free assistance via appropriate interventions that build capacity as well as opportunities, reliance on domestic sources, transparency, fairness, and justice.
• Linking aid with work, moving away from excluding the poor where poverty is a temporary phenomenon in rural areas, and taking into consideration the available resources
Noteworthy achievements:
1. Distributing more than 55,000 tons of food supplies as part of various interventions.
2. Creating several models in the field of small enterprise.
3. Restoring and maintaining many public places as part of the Food For Work program.
4. Training and building the capacities of thousands of women and farmers.
5. Forming a number of solidarity committees as well as improving several committees already in existence.
6. Providing successful models with well recognized standards for working with the poor.
7. Developing the communal capacities of the poor and shifting away from dependence on aid to active participation in the formulation and implementation of the interventions required to improve their standard of living.
The Program’s Principal Interventions:
• Guidance and consultation
• Awareness and empowerment.
• Training and transferring knowledge.
• Support for logistic capacities.
• Support for administrative and financial capacities.
• Building indicators for the work and standards for the quality of service.
• Designing inspection regulations, both institutional and public.