Over the weekend, Wasim Nasser, coordinator of international advocacy at the Mossawa Center, was invited by the EU embassy to present the accomplishments of the Mossawa Center in a panel titled “Local Democracy is the Core of Public Participation.”
The panel is part of a 4-day festival, the Festival of Mediterranean Citizens, in Catania, Italy. The festival's purpose is to celebrate different cultures and open mindedness between the different communities and societies of the Mediterranean.
The festival featured various Mediterranean intellectuals, artists, activists and authors, and consisted of numerous sessions discussing important issues and challenges in the region.
In the panel, Nasser discussed the achievements in the Arab-Palestinian village of Jisr AzZarqa, despite all the suffocating circumstances that it has faced throughout history.
Some of the achievements included, an augmentation in funding and budgets towards education, a Bank-on-Wheels to increase financial stability in the community, and the acquisition of a special clause in the State Budget dedicated specifically to the village for the upcoming 5 years.
Mossawa acted as a chain link between the residents of JisrAzZarqa and local authority in the aim of closing the gaps in misrepresentation and dereliction, leading to numerous national and international achievements.