The meeting opened with a minute of silence in mourning for the souls of the martyrs, followed by a welcome speech by Dr. Mustafa Barghouti on behalf of the network’s steering committee. In his speech, he emphasized the challenges facing the Palestinian people at this stage, including policies of ethnic cleansing and genocide. He also addressed the targeting of civil society space and attempts to dry up sources of institutional support through lobbying groups backing the occupation.
Barghouti spoke about the most important areas of PNGO’s work in the coming period, stressing the importance of consolidating, enhancing, and developing civil society work in line with the sensitivity of the current and upcoming stages.
Mr. Taysir Muhaisen (for the Gaza Strip) and Mr. Ubai Al-Aboudi (for the West Bank) presented and read out the network's annual reports. Mr. Raafat Al-Majdalawi presented the external auditor's report, after which the administrative and financial reports were discussed and approved. These reports included key interventions under the network’s strategic objectives based on the national dimension and addressing citizens' issues in the occupied Palestinian territory. They also included numerous contributions aimed at developing civil work and activating the institutions of the General Assembly to serve the vision and goals, as well as expanding work into future horizons that restore attention to many issues that had receded during the previous stage.
The outgoing coordinating committee submitted its resignation, and an election supervisory committee was formed. Seventeen civil society organizations from the West Bank ran for membership, with 11 winning: the Palestinian Medical Relief Society, the Agricultural Development Association, Wasel for Youth Development, Mothers' School Society, the Jerusalem Center for Legal Aid, the Working Woman Society, Al-Haq, the Teacher Creativity Center, the Palestinian Hydrology Group, Addameer for Human Rights, and The Independent Commission for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Rule of Law – Istiqlal.
In the Gaza Strip, 13 civil society organizations ran, with nine winning: the Women's Affairs Center, the Gaza Group for Culture and Development, Aisha Association for the Protection of Women and Children, Dr. Haidar Abdel Shafi Center for Culture and Development, Agricultural Relief (PARC), the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, Al-Najda Social Association, Al-Awda Health and Community Association, and Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children. The General Assembly will hold a meeting in the coming days to distribute positions within the network's coordinating committee.
The General Assembly of PNGO affirmed the importance of strengthening the national and societal role in the coming period to confront the volatile changes sweeping the region, highlighting the suffering of citizens and the catastrophic impacts of the ongoing Israeli aggression since October 2023, and working diligently with all international and UN institutions to mobilize support and provide relief to citizens across all fields.
