On November 7, 2018, Palestine Polytechnic University, the Ministry of Labor of Turkey and the Palestinian Ministry of Labor, discussed the prospects of joint cooperation to activate cooperation and exchange of experiences in the field of occupational safety and health between the Turkish National Center of Occupational Safety and Health and the Palestinian National Center of Occupational Safety and Health and Environmental Protection (COSHEP) at the PPU and also enhance the role of the COSHEP. The meeting was attended by Mr. Aural Tukji, the Director of the Center of Occupational Safety and Health (COSH) in Turkey, and Mr. Kagan Yogel, expert on occupational safety and health on the Turkish side, Mr. Ameen Imtour, the Acting Deputy Assistant Director of the Directorates Affairs, and Mr. Ali al-Sawi, the Director General of the Inspection and Protection Department, from the Ministry of Labor in addition to Dr. Ali Safi, Head of the Development Sector in the PLO Representation Office in Palestine.
The delegation was received by Prof. Imad Khatib, President of the PPU and his vice presidents and the Director of COSHEP.
At the beginning of the meeting, the Director of the Public Relations: Mr. Abdel Nasser Da’na, welcomed the attendees and stressed the importance of the role of the University and the public and the private sectors in serving the community and employing the University external relations to serve this purpose.
Dr. al-Khatib, also praised the role of the Palestinian Ministry of Labor in supporting the COSHEP and also emphasized the importance of having closer relations with all institutions as a technical university, concerned with engagement and interaction with all the society segments. He also stressed the role the Turkish government in supporting the Palestinians in all fields and valued the role of the Turkish National Center for Occupational Safety and Health in enhancing the mobility program for exchanging experiences and success stories, as well as strengthening the role of networking between the COSHEP and the Turkish Center in transferring experiences and knowledge in this field. In his speech he also stressed the importance of enhancing relations between the Center and all the partners to promote and spread the culture of safety and raise awareness among all the governmental and private institutions.
Mr. Aural Tukji also emphasized the importance of research on occupational safety and health and the role of the Turkish government in promoting cultural and information exchange at the level of the two countries He also stressed the importance of disseminating such success stories and experiences to all the Palestinians in the near future.
Al-Safi stressed the depth of such historic relationship between the Turkish and the Palestinian people on all levels and he praised the role made by Palestine Polytechnic University and all the various community sectors in supporting applied technical education. He also appreciated its role in serving the different sectors of community to enhance the development and achieve a sustainable economic growth in Palestine, indicating the interest of the Islamic Cooperation Organization through its various agencies and research centers in cooperation in the relevant fields.
Mr. Amin al-Mtour sent the regards and greetings of the Minister of Labor Mr. Mahmoun Abu Shahla to the participants and he emphasized the Ministry’s interest in occupational safety and health in Palestine and also in enacting laws and legislations that would enhance the role of the COSHEP and the Ministry in promoting the culture of occupational safety and health. He also emphasized the importance of networking with the Ministry of Labor of Turkey and other ministries as well.
The participants also stressed the need to strengthen the relationship between the Palestinian and the Turkish national center to come up with a set of joint understanding and exchange of information and specialized experiences in OSH to promote scientific research in this field and sign a memorandum of understanding to have a stronger relationship and exchange theatrical and practical experiences in this regard.
As well, the Director of the COSHEP engineer Nafeth Sha’rawi gave a presentation on the objectives and the prospects of the Center and its role in spreading this culture in the community, stressing the importance of working collectively to activate this culture at the local, regional and global levels.
At the end of the meeting, the delegation was taken on a tour to the Center’s labs and were briefed on the equipment which were funded by the European Union and implemented by the German Cooperation Foundation (GIZ), and which aimed to serve the local market in OSH within the program and support vocational and technical education and training. The guest were impressed with the laboratories and equipment available at the Center.
In a related context, the guest delegation made a special visit to the old town of Hebron and performed prayers at the Ibrahimi Mosque which has been subjected to continuous Judaization attempts and violations by the Israeli occupation which the delegation witnessed during their visit to the old town.
Public Relations Department
