During the first half of 2021, UNESCO continued overseeing the different activities implemented in the framework of the Local Development through the Rehabilitation and Revitalization of Historic Environment in Palestine project, generously funded by Sweden. Through this project, 75 historic building and urban spaces have been rehabilitated and utilized for the welfare of the local communities they exist in. Through which, UNESCO and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, in cooperation with the Municipality of Sebastia, developed a Conservation and Management Plan for Sebastia; a site on the Tentative List of Palestine for Natural and Cultural Heritage Sites with potential OUV. The village of Sebastia is one of the important Palestinian archaeological sites, and a once-vibrant Roman city with a wealth of monumental remains. Read more about the overall project and its scope.

In close coordination with partners, UNESCO invests efforts towards the enhancement and revitalization of the three inscribed World Heritage Sites in Palestine: Birthplace of Jesus: Church of the Nativity and the Pilgrimage Route, Bethlehem (2012), Palestine: Land of Olives and Vines – Cultural Landscape of Southern Jerusalem, Battir (2014) and Hebron/Al-Khalil Old Town (2017). Particularly, UNESCO designs and implements projects and activities that respond to the numerous challenges emerging in these sites, contributing to their proper conservation and management while sustaining their Outstanding Universal Values (OUV). In May 2021, UNESCO initiated a comprehensive project entitled Detailed Urban Plan and building by laws in Battir and Hussan to develop a conservation and urban plan for parts of the core and buffer zones of the site in Battir. This initiative is implemented through a structured partnership with the concerned national stakeholders mandated to oversee cultural heritage sites in Palestine, namely the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MoTA). The activity comes as a response to recognizing the need of protecting the agricultural terraces in Battir, which is also highlighted in the site’s conservation and management plan, aiming to ensure that any developments in the site will not have an adverse impact on its OUV.

During April-May 2021, UNESCO Ramallah Office, in close cooperation with the Ministry of Education (MoE), conducted psychosocial support activities, using sports and drama in 20 marginalized schools in the Area C and East Jerusalem. The activities were implemented by UNESCO’s partners, YES Theatre and PS4L trainers.   Since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, UNESCO with the financial support from the “Education Cannot Wait”, is supporting the MoE in the implementation of its National Response Plan for COVID-19. The plan indicated that the psychosocial support was one of the priorities to mitigate the physical and psychological impact of the prolonged lockdowns on students. Consequently, the psychosocial support activities that have benefitted 1557 girls and boys, aged 12 to 16,  provided the space  often missing in marginalized schools, for the students to play and interact with each other.  The project taught students how to develop life skills such as teamwork, healthy lifestyles, effective communication, perseverance, and planning while also promoting tolerance and values of respect, empathy and fairness. A student said, “I enjoyed the day. It was fun and enjoyable for us. We learned about respect and love. I also liked discussions in the end of games that connected the game to our life”. These kind of psychosocial activities are usually powerful means to support mental health, well-being, enhance cognitive development, encourage positive attitudes and behaviors as well as promote physical fitness of students while in lockdown as well as in school.  During the event, he students had the opportunity to express their frustrations and release the stress caused by the pandemic, through performing theatrical sketches and playing different team sports. It also gave the chance to the students, especially the girls, to voice their opinions on life matters, which they rarely get to do. "We learned to persevere to fulfill  our dreams, not to lose hope, to be optimistic about life and to think about better future, no matter how difficult life circumstances are." Trauma sensitive and responsive sport and art related programs can be powerful tools in helping communities, especially children to connect and heal. Therefore, building on  the positive impact that this project had on the students and to ensure the sustainability of the activities, UNESCO Ramallah will organize 100 summer camps between July and August 2021 in the West Bank and will continue with school activities to counter learning loss in both the West Bank and Gaza.

The UNESCO Ramallah Office in partnership with the Willy Brandt Center in Jerusalem cooperated in marking the 2021 edition of the International Jazz Day, contributing to this global initiative through musical events and musical video premieres promoting Palestinian musicians as well international artists.    The 10th International Jazz Day was celebrated despite a lot of adversities due to the day coinciding with a number of events: the Holy month of Ramadan, Good Friday, the unfortunate events in Jerusalem, and the COVID-19 restrictions still going on in the West Bank. The celebrations opened on April 29th with an overture on the panoramic roof terrace of the Austrian Hospice in Jerusalem’s Old City. to watch the celebration video click here

UNESCO Ramallah Office marked the International Women’s Day in March in close coordination with UN Women Office in Palestine, through Palestine’s only Female-led radio station, Nisaa FM (Women FM) with a series of activities that spanned across an entire week.  The activities varied between radio segments featuring successful women in different fields, radio awareness spots which were announced 4 times a day, “Vox Pops” which aired during peak hours and solicited 80 university students and young people for their opinions, leading to the highlight of the celebration: a debate episode.  The debate was organized and lead by UNESCO, and shed the light on the challenges facing women during COVID-19 in their field of work. UNESCO ensured the success of the debate, which was the fourth of the series of ResiliArt Debates organized by the UNESCO Culture Unit, by providing an expert presenter and debate leader. The attendants, all leaders in their fields of expertise, had the chance to introduce their organizations and their work aimed towards guarding Palestinian heritage in a one-hour live broadcast during the radio peak hour. You may watch the debate (in Arabic) following the link here.

The National Mechanism for Monitoring Safety of Journalists in Palestine held its first meeting of in June of this year to prepare the annual report issued by the State of Palestine on the violations against Journalists and their safety.   The Mechanism members met for the first time since it was officially established in November of 2019.  The meeting assessed the viability of the mechanism, shed light on the gaps and needs to support the drafting of the National report which feeds into UNESCO’s Director General’s report on Safety issues. The mechanism urged for further capacity building for additional monitoring team and reporters to be able to report on violations in West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza.     Members of the mechanism team comprised of members from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Information, General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers, Palestinian Journalists Syndicate and the Independent Commission of Human Rights, along with UNESCO team, and launched the hashtag #DefendPressFreedom.