The Accountability Team within the “Together For Hope” Network: A rewarding and change-making experience
The Accountability Team within the Together For Hope (T4H) network continues to play a significant role in monitoring activities inside SDF’s safe learning spaces across the Gaza Strip. Their work aims to advance transparency and integrity of the education process as part of the project “Youth Networks to Enhance Wellbeing and Education for Children and Adolescents,” implemented by the Social Developmental Forum (SDF) in collaboration with the Youth Advisory Panel (YAP) and funded by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
The team conducts regular visits to all safe learning spaces in the northern and southern parts of the Gaza Strip, in addition to overseeing and following up on initiatives, open days, and events implemented in displacement camps.
The Accountability Team consists of 30 volunteers who serve as community monitors. They are members of the T4H network, which aims to support the education and wellbeing of children and adolescents across SDF’s learning spaces.
A meaningful role and a distinctive experience
Our role as monitors was to follow up on activities and processes taking place inside the spaces, and to ensure that those activities include all beneficiaries within each space. We also record observations and beneficiaries’ feedback to prepare reports.
Nagham Bassam Al‑Zain, a member of the Accountability Team
Her colleague, Rewa Ghanim, adds: “My role is to monitor SDF’s services at the learning spaces, to identify challenges or concerns that those services might encounter, and to document observations transparently. Ultimately, promoting community accountability to ensure a quality, accessible, and responsive approach to beneficiaries’ needs.”
While their peer, Malak Duheir, stated: “I monitored the implementation of projects and services in the learning spaces and recorded associated shortcomings. I collected IDPs’ feedback, represented their voice and conveyed their needs to SDF to support a culture of active civic participation in decision‑making.”
Guided by principles of integrity and transparency, I served as a community monitor to support the project and contribute to its success. I followed the implementation of project educational and social activities, monitored the quality of implementation, received and followed up on beneficiaries’ complaints, measured their satisfaction with the services provided, and assessed volunteers’ conduct and professional commitment.
Salah Abu Shammala says
Promoting accountability
Al‑Zain reflects on her experience: “I learned that monitoring and evaluation are not limited to writing reports; they are means for tracking projects and ensuring effective implementation, which allows us to address issues that may appear during implementation and to identify areas of improvement.”
Ahmed Abu Samra describes the Accountability Team experience as “an enjoyable and unforgettable journey; we were responsible for following up on and evaluating many of the Together For Hope network’s events and activities.”
Farah Al‑Ghafari says her role as a monitor taught her that “accountability is not only about holding people accountable; it is also about listening, empowering, and building trust between community members and service providers. I felt that I contributed to a real difference, however small, it was very grassroot oriented.”
Youth first
The Social Developmental Forum (SDF) aims to support young people’s contributions to revitalising education through the “Youth Networks Collaborating to Enhance Wellbeing and Education for Children and Adolescents” project, thereby actively promoting young people’s leadership.
We believe that youth are the driving force of change and the voice of integrity in the face of inequality. This team renewed the youth’s commitment and creativity to enhance SDF’s educational interventions and elevate quality toward more sustainable and effective outcomes. These young people proved that investing in their ability to embed accountability and transparency principles is a strategic investment in a resilient educational future capable of recovery despite the impacts of war.
Ahmed Al‑Aydi, SDF’s coordinator of the Together For Hope network.
Tireless efforts to sustain hope
The Together Towards Hope network includes some 120 young men and women (18 to 24 years) from Palestinian communities across the Gaza Strip who have been leading a wide range of initiatives against the backdrop of the ongoing war. It underscores SDF’s commitment to provide youth with hopeful spaces and empower them to maintain and spread hope, despite the hardships of displacement caused by the Israeli war. Members of the T4H network across the Gaza Strip continue to lead initiatives and activities that advocate for revitalising education in the Gaza Strip.
