UNDP Continue Support of Palestinian Rowing

The United Nations Development Program will provide assistance to the Palestinian Rowing Federation

The United Nations Development Program/Program of Assistance to the Palestinian People (UNDP/PAPP) and the Palestinian Rowing Federation (PRF) have signed a contract for the continued development of the PRF for the period of August 2003 through July 2004. The contract between the UNDP/PAPP and the PRF secures the implementation of the second phase of the federation’s development as outlined in an OS funded MEMOS project written by the PRF President entitled “Toward a Sustainable Palestinian Rowing Federation: Sport as a Tool for Development”. The first phase of implementation was the introductory test phase of rowing, which lasted from February – May 2003.

This second phase of implementation includes a comprehensive educational package for all the main stakeholders in Palestinian sport. In addition to continuing the six-day training program for the b

The ergometer program will be continued

oys and girls participating in the ergometer program (three alternating days for each gender), a much more intensive educational program for all stakeholders has been developed in cooperation with the Islamic University in Gaza City. A total of 336 hours of continuing education over the course of the year will be provided to each of the eight coaches, a number of board members and volunteers from each of the three clubs developing rowing programs, two employees each from the Palestine Olympic Committee and Ministry of Youth and Sports, a volunteer community administrator for the PRF, and the PRF’s General Secretary. The coursework will be divided across five major subject areas: English (120 hours), Sport Management and Administration (51 hours), Computer software (95 hours, across Windows and Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Email software and the Internet as a research tool), Sport Science and Training (60 hours), and First Aid/CPR (10 hours). It is also the intention of the PRF to enrol all eight coaches to FISA’s e-learning program.

As a result of the intense time commitment expected from the coaches and community administrator (20 hours per week, or a full part-time job), a component of the budget will be used toward competitive monthly remuneration (half of a normal monthly salary), thereby making the project an income generator in an economy that has witnessed unemployment rates as high as 65% in some areas. Additional items budgeted in the contract include full athletic gear for program participants, many of whom practice in bare feet, and the first annual Palestinian indoor rowing championship, scheduled for 8 November 2003. 100% of the project budget is reinvested into the Palestinian community. When compared with the PRF’s budget for international activities for the same calendar period (August 2003 – July 2004), the PRF is proud to show that 91% of the federation’s resources go toward national investments whereas only 9% go toward international investments.

Assisting in the implementation is PRF President Ghassan Haddad, an expatriate Palestinian who developed an assessment and short-term development plan at the POC through UNDP’s TOKTEN program (“Transfer of Knowledge Through Expatriate Nationals”). UNDP/PAPP’s TOKTEN program continues to support Mr. Haddad’s work on national federation development. The project is being considered a test run for future sustainable development projects with other Palestinian sport federations. Mr. Haddad can be contacted at sanhaddad_@hotmail.com for more information.