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 PALESTINE
 Civic Forum Institute Palestine
Contact: Samuel Martin
Civic Forum is a non-profit, non-partisan, non-governmental
Palestinian organization that works to develop and strengthen the foundations
of democracy and build Palestinian
civil society organizations.
Started in August 1995, Civic Forum provides Palestinians with a democratic
setting where trained Palestinian moderators lead small-group, community-based
discussions
on topics ranging from the relationship between citizens and elected representatives
to the role of political parties in a democracy.
Based on its strong belief in civic education and democratic development, Civic
Forum works on strengthening cooperation and exchange of expertise with local,
regional and international organizations seeking to enhance democratic development
with the aim of establishing a democratic system enjoyed by the citizenry regardless
of their political or theological affiliations.
The activities of Civic Forum include
holding discussion sessions, organizing town hall meetings and disseminating
information through written materials
(discussion handouts, newsletters and brochures) in addition to training local
organizations
on principles of democratic practices.
Objectives:
Working in civic education, Civic Forum has focused its objectives
to strengthen the foundations of a civil and democratic society in
Palestine. The objectives
of the program are:
• Increasing citizens' awareness of democratic concepts and institutions;
• Developing community leaders and enhancing the role of the citizen in society;
• Encouraging local organizations to play a role in the decision-making process
to allow for democratic development through more responsive and accountable
governance.
Through its staff, participants and volunteers, Civic Forum has
carried out civic education activities with the aim of increasing participants'
awareness
of democratic
concepts, practices and institutions. Civic Forum reaches on average 6,000
Palestinians per month through 350 sessions organized on a particular civic
education topic.
In a typical year, Civic Forum organizes sessions on six to seven different
discussion topics. Palestinian moderators conduct sessions in all 16 districts
of the West
Bank and Gaza throughout cities, villages and refugee camps. The grassroots
scope of the program has allowed for more than 25,000 Palestinians to participate
in
at least one session.  
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