Assembly of Cooperation for Peace

ACCP IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Asamblea de Cooperación Por la Paz (ACPP) is a meeting point among people who aspire to live in a world where it is possible to build dignity, justice and equality for all. ACPP is a progressive NGO that stated in its bylaws as follow:

• To work towards peace, solidarity and human rights all over the world.
• To help the study, investigation and to promote international co-operation.
• To provide economic, cultural, social, educational, environmental, health and humanitarian assistance to the ethnic or social groups who require it all over the world.
• To provide cultural, social or economic assistance to exiled and resident emigrants in Spain.
• Any other aim in the interest of peace and co-operation between different populations.
• To implement social and cultural programs to promote equality between men and women.
• To encourage the active presence of young people through specific programs to their benefit.
• To stimulate active social participation through the promotion of voluntary and training programs.

For this purpose, the ACPP actively participates in the Euro Mediterranean network (Spanish Euromed Platform, European Euromed Platform) and implementing project of institutional empowerment of Mediterranean organisations, in order to achieve those objectives with efficiency and a better impact, focusing on the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) as a reference for all the networks’ members.

The approach with other European partners is closer with organisations involved in the field such as Germany, Sweden, France and Italy, as ACPP considers these countries as the ones with stronger links with the Middle East: needs assessments and projects implementation are done in co-operation, aiming at consolidating a network of decentralised cooperation public institutions trough the NGOs branches, and focusing on the basic social services, such as water and sanitation, health, education and rural development. 

ACPP has been implementing projects in the Occupied Palestinian Territories since 1993. Its current main areas of intervention are health and water and sanitation. Other sectors include the empowerment of women, agriculture and food security, good governance and democracy, and culture. Through interventions in these areas, particularly in the cultural sector, the ACPP aims to develop a continuous awareness campaign based on advocacy concerning the rights enshrined in the International Humanitarian Law and the Fourth Geneva Convention.

In the water and sanitation sector, the ACPP aims at enhancing the live conditions of the most vulnerable population, affected by lack of access to fresh water resources and proper sanitation systems, due to a prolonged unstable political situation and the consequent socio-economic deterioration. ACPP's most important partner in Palestine is the Palestinian Hydrology Group (PHG). Development and emergency projects implemented so far include water infrastructures for communities and collective buildings such as schools and municipalities, through well rehabilitation and community cistern construction. Other complementary actions aimed at the household level include the provision of domestic and agricultural cisterns, as well as water treatment plants, in areas of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip which are in an emergency situation due to water shortages.

By improving both access to water resources and water quality, together with awareness campaigns in responsible water use and hygiene habits, ACPP is linking the objectives of the two main sectors, health and water, and contributing to environment protection.

ACPP IN WATER-DROP

ACPP is a member of the Project Management Unit and Financial Board and is responsible for:

• supporting the local Partner PHG (Palestinian Hydrology Group) and guaranteeing the effective implementation of the pilot action in the State of Palestine: rehabilitation of an existing wastewater plant.
• sharing policy-relevant data with other Palestinian Stakeholders and ensuring the external visibility of the project to encourage and mediate cooperation between different countries and cultures of the Mediterranean, reaching the principal target groups: national and local authorities responsible for water cycle management, public and private scientific institutions, local and national environmental NGOs, involved communities and all other relevant stakeholders.
• supporting the local Partner PHG at collecting the relevant data from the pilot action (geo-referenced for thematic Maps) to create an integrated approach DSS-GIS for the water cycle management and elaborate and publicize different scenarios and thematic maps
• implementation of an awareness campaign in 6 different schools in Palestine related to the water cycle management in general and wastewater treatments in particular.

Personnel

Natalia Blanco Guiard
Natalia Blanco has 32 years old and is from Spain. She has a Master Degree in Architecture and she is member of ACPP for over 10 years now.
Her professional experience with ACPP began 10 years ago, while she was still a student of Architecture. This is when she started her contact with the development world. After her graduation, she worked with a Spanish Architectural firm where she developed several projects in Spain and in the North of Morocco. Despite her youth, her professional experience in the design and management of national and international projects is large. This year, she returned to the cooperation environment trough a field experience, in Palestine more precisely, where she is currently ACPP Middle East Representative.