Programs

The Protection Program at MA'AN Development Center is committed to child protection, social justice, food security, and the empowerment of households and institutions. This comprehensive initiative ensures that poor and vulnerable groups learn about and access their rights by targeting both duty-bearers and right-holders. The program addresses the needs of vulnerable families, provides psychological counseling, and undertakes critical projects such as rehabilitating water and sanitation networks in Area C and Gaza Strip, responding to emergencies in areas and refugee camps affected by Israeli operations, and enhancing the safety and accessibility of environments in schools and health clinics. Additionally, it assists vulnerable Palestinian households, primarily herding and Bedouin communities, with shelter rehabilitation to build resilience, reinforce protection, reduce seasonal and forced displacement, and support the steadfastness of the poorest households at risk of displacement or exposed to harsh weathers. MA'AN Center adopts the Children's Resiliency Program and the Positive Discipline in Everyday Parenting (PDEP) initiative which further supports the well-being and development of children and their caregivers. 

Within this program, MA’AN Centers’ projects focuses on 7 types of interventions to cater tot he needs of vulnerable communities:

 Addressing Social Policies:

MA’AN strives to protect the rights and meet the needs of the most vulnerable groups in Palestine, by developing position papers on social policies and pressuring decision-makers to address them.

• Plan and Launch Accountability Campaigns: The key method MA’AN utilizes in pressuring decision-makers to protect vulnerable and marginalized groups is through social media and in-person youth-led lobbying and advocacy initiatives. 

 Shelter Interventions:

MA'AN Center works on individual and household levels to provide shelter needs, this is through the provision of cash assistance for forcibility displaced families and by supporting household rehabilitation into minimum shelter standards.

 WASH Interventions:

MA'AN Center ensures the provision of drinking water for vulnerable communities through the installation and rehabilitation of water networks and public-private water wells. MA'AN Center also supports sewage networks and its connection to households. Throughout these interventions, MA'AN Center project team organizes communal and individual awareness sessions on hygiene requirements and proper health behaviors.

 Improve and Support Institutions Providing Services:

MA'AN Center provides support for social services by improving their facilities to be more suitable for use and accessible for people with disabilities. Social service institutions MA'AN Center supports include local grassroot organizations, schools, health clinics, and hospitals.

 Child Protection Services:

MA'AN Center provides psychosocial sessions to support child resiliency, this is achieved through the provision of life skills capacity trainings, group sessions on mental health and best practices, and having awareness-raising camps and activities. MA'AN also targets caregivers (such as parents), through the Positive Discipline in Everyday Parenting (PDEP) program, to help caregivers develop skills and strategies to raise responsible, respectful, and resilient children. 

 Community Skills and Knowledge:

MA'AN Center works to further integrate women and youth within the Palestinian communities by increasing their knowledge and skills in accountably tools and opening opportunities for their participation. Specifically, MA'AN Center provides institutional support for grassroot organizations to integrate youths and women within their activities.

 Emergency Responses:

Providing emergency response plans for refugee camps and communities after emergencies (Israeli military attacks, natural disasters, etc.)

MA'ANs Protection Program transforms the lives of Palestinian communities, especially in the Gaza Strip and Area C of the West Bank, who are facing first-hand the damages caused by the Israeli occupation and-or Israeli settler violence. Through interventions in supporting housholds with access to clean and safe water, such as installing new water pipelines, targeted communities quote the impact of witnessing MA'AN Centers' work. Within the Al-Khalil Governate, a father of 11 named Adel states, "I was there when they replaced the water pipelines, the old ones were all damaged and fully rusted, one can only image how many diseases this would cause if people drank from the water."