Today, Wednesday, at the headquarters of the Japanese Representative Office in Ramallah, the Representative of Japan to Palestine, Nakashima Yoichi, the Municipality of Al-Yamoun, and the Village Council of Deir Abu Daif, each signed a grant contract under the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP) Program, worth $267,930.

According to a statement by the Japanese Representative Office, the Yamoun Municipality will use US$133,000 to build four additional classrooms, each measuring 40 square meters, at the Ahmed Abdel Wahab Primary School for Boys in Yamoun, to improve the educational conditions of students currently using the mosque and the women’s center. A total of 247 students will benefit from the project: 85 from the mosque classrooms and 162 from the women’s center, by providing them with a suitable learning environment.

The village council of Deir Abu Daif will use US$134,930 to install two 400 kVA transformers, extend 1,390 meters of medium voltage lines to provide stable electricity throughout the village, and enable the operation of water pumps that will be installed through the World Bank-funded project. The project is expected to benefit approximately 1,750 families – approximately 8,000 citizens – in Deir Abu Daif.

Yoichi congratulated the Yamoun Municipality and the Deir Abu Daif Village Council, wishing them success in the two projects. He stressed Japan's firm commitment to supporting the Palestinian people from a human security perspective, as well as the importance of implementing the necessary social and economic development projects for Palestinian communities.

Since 1993, Japan has provided its assistance to the Palestinians amounting to over US$2.5 billion. Since 2010, it has begun formulating grassroots and human security projects in cooperation with the Palestinian Authority.