The mayor and village council members from Area C village Khalet al-Mayya were invited by Area A city of Ramallah to join them to exchange ideas on how to improve civil services and establish a Citizen Service Center.

The visit was coordinated by APLA (the Association of Palestinian Local Authorities) and VNG International has organized a two-day training and learning event for building and developing the capabilities of the Khalet Al Mayya Cluster Council, support the resilience of the local citizens and improve the provision of quality services to local citizens. This event is part of the Area C Development Initiative in Palestine or EU ARD for short, funded by the European Union.

The EU ARD Program focuses on the village Khalet Al Mayya village cluster which is located for more than 75% in Area C. The program aims to improve the capacity of the Khalet Al Mayya Cluster and supports the resilience of the communities in this Cluster. This working event is one of the steps towards the aimed result by contributing to the development of the Council.

According to the Oslo Accords the Palestinian and Israeli negotiators agreed to divide the West Bank into 3 Areas: Area A, B and C. Only Area A, which represents 3% of West Bank land is under full administrative control of the Palestinian Authority.  Area C (which consists of 61% of West Bank land) is under full Israeli civil and security control. Therefore, Area C faces numerous challenges that jeopardize the development of the communities, as well as the improvement of welfare, economic opportunities and social cohesion.