Tubas is a medium-sized farming town approximately 20 kilometers south of Jenin in the West Bank. The district
Ministry of Interior (MOI) office in Tubas provides about 150
citizens a day with services such as national IDs and birth
certificates. Its distance from Jenin and a lack of proper
computer equipment made it very difficult for the office
employees to quickly and efficiently provide services to
citizens. Applications would be sent by car to the main office
in Jenin to be processed and then returned to Tubas. Because
of this lengthy process, citizens had to frequently check back
at the MOI office to check the status of their application.
Sometimes, they would be informed that their documents
were lost and a new application needed to be re-submitted.
USAID-funded the Palestinian Authority Capacity
Enhancement project to work with the Palestinian Authority
(PA) to improve its ability to provide services to Palestinians.
As part of this project, USAID worked with the MOI to elevate
the situation in Tubas by providing needed IT equipment and
training.
Today, a Palestinian can visit the office and obtain a national
ID in 5 minutes. Prior to the improvements, this process took
about 2 weeks. “I obtained my documents quickly and the staff
was very professional. Everything was electronic, it’s
impressive,” said Abdel Hakem Abu Shamle, a resident of
Tubas who just obtained a national ID.
The local office director, Mr. Ous Kamal Al Shay, was also
very satisfied with the new improvements, “After the
renovations and computer enhancements, the situation
changed dramatically.”
The office in Tubas is just one of the targeted government
offices USAID finished furnishing. Currently, there are 11
government service offices under renovations across the West
Bank. The renovation and furnishing plans were developed
with the citizen in mind. Obtaining services in these offices will
be easy, quick, and comfortable. USAID is also training PA
employees in management, IT, and customer service to
further improve citizen experience with government offices. |
