Qattan Foundation
The A.M. Qattan Foundation believes that the process of human development requires patience, perseverance and continuous nurturing in order to be truly successful. Through its work in Palestine and abroad, it seeks to invest in people and to secure a fertile cultural soil upon which they can build their lives in order to achieve a more effective, meaningful and lasting participation in all levels of life.
The Foundation has therefore chosen to focus on two principal areas, culture and education, which it considers as central to any long-term and consistent process of human development. Hence, it established the Qattan Centre for Educational Research and Development in order to actively participate in raising the standards of education and teaching in Palestine. The Centre works directly with schoolteachers, endeavouring to develop their skills and to create better learning conditions for Palestinian school-children of all ages. Another of the Foundation’s projects, the Qattan Centre for the Child in Gaza City, which boasts over 80,000 volumes and a variety of other library and information services, was established to compensate for the lack of incentives and opportunities, both socially and in the traditional educational system, for children to nurture their curiosity, expand their knowledge and facilitate their access to outside cultures. It also aims to cultivate children intellectually, emotionally and socially in order to enable them to become active and effective social beings within the context of an increasingly globalised world.
The Foundation is keenly aware of the importance for any society of all forms of originality and creativity. It has thus launched a Culture and Science Programme to provide financial and moral support to talented people in a number of fields of creative endeavour, particularly to the young. The Programme provides incentives for artists and creators to develop their skills and explore new horizons. Through this programme, the Foundation contributes towards the crystallization of these energies and encourages them towards ever-widening horizons. It also aims to promote Palestinian and Arab culture internationally and to open avenues into the region for international culture and know-how.
In recognition of the growing vitality, artistic contribution and economic needs of Palestinian film and television production, the Foundation launched the Palestinian Audio-visual Project in June 2004. This three-year investment programme, co-funded with the European Union, includes a national training programme, a professional database of professionals and their films, a dynamic website, DVD publishing and distribution grants and an extensive School Film Education Programme which is creating forty-five ciné-clubs in Palestine’s schools.
The Al-Qattan family underwrites the Foundation’s administrative expenses and programme and project costs in order to ensure its independence and the highest level of service.
http://www.qattanfoundation.org/en/index.asp
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