The parties are planning to carry out a SIDA funded project between 2018 and 2021 with the objective to:
1) Develop overall legislative and regulatory frameworks, rule of law, and improve inter-institutional coordination.
2) Development of organisational performance and environmental management capabilities.
3) Improve understanding of the environment, develop technical skills, and Support long-term motivation and commitment in accordance with a project plan.
The project plan is part of a program to strengthen Palestinian environmental action program. The three year project will build the Palestinian Environment Quality Authority’s environmental capacity with a focus on the Climate and Basel conventions in general, including their conventions and tracking or Measuring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) systems.
On the issue of climate there will be several workshops arranged in cooperation between the two authorities. Regarding hazardous waste there will be one workshop in Sweden with a focus on materials handling, categorization and monitoring and one in Palestine focusing on transboundary waste. During workshops participants will work on different action plans and strategies, which will also be the direct results of training events. Other results will be better cooperation between different institutions in Palestine and possibly a better position in international negotiations. There will also be a workshop on environmental awareness. To get continuity there will be follow-up meetings in between workshops and there will be a meeting for evaluation and next steps.
One part will consist of organizing a helpdesk that supports the EQA with mainly climate and hazardous waste issues, for example support in tracking systems. Other issues included in the help desk will be protection of environmental resources and awareness and flow of information.
There will also be training performed in Sweden and in Palestine. Another activity will be education on how to become an international reviewer under the UNFCCC with the main purpose to enhance knowledge about the transparency system (especially reporting and review). The focus will be on MRV system.
Expected results of the project is a strengthened cooperation between different institutions in Palestine and a stronger position in international negotiations.