Taawon implements its programs in the West Bank including Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, 1948 areas, and Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. We are proud of our work and record, and its impact on enhancing the lives of people in the communities we support.

Our work is undertaken in full compliance with our governance policies and procedures, and the rules and regulations of the countries where we operate.

Taawon is an Arabic word that translates to working together to do good which lies at the core of the organization’s culture and governs its everyday operations.

Taawon is a leading independent Palestinian non-profit civil society organization founded in 1983 with offices in Jerusalem, Ramallah, Gaza, Amman, Geneva and a branch in Lebanon. Taawon has a sister organization, WA/UK in the United Kingdom.

Taawon is a strictly developmental and humanitarian aid organization. Taawon’s overall aim is protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinians as outlined in the International Human Rights Law.

The main source of Taawon’s funding include support from its 184 members, revenues of its endowment fund, and funds from Arab and International donor agencies, governments, foundations, and individual contributions.

Taawon follows a rigorous selection criteria and conducts rigorous due diligence of its donors. Main criteria for donor selection include:

• Matching between Taawon and donor in terms of key values, principles, policies, and strategy

• Transparency and accountability of donating entity and its sources of financing

• Maintaining Taawon’s independence and relations with other partners

• Not connected with political agendas

The annual budget of Taawon Lebanon hovers between 3 to 5 USD million depending on emerging needs, resources mobilized, and projects implemented.

Taawon is subject to both internal and external audits in line with international practices through the engagement of prominent auditing firms. For 2015 Taawon was audited by Ernst & Young. Our annual reports are available on our website(www.taawon.org).

Taawon has been recognized for its rigorous performance, transparency and accountability. Taawon achieved the Global Reporting Initiative Level A and the Equivalency Determination (ED) certificate in 2014. In 2015 both ED certification and ISO 9001:200 certification were renewed. In addition, Taawon won several international awards including the Agha Khan Award for Architectural Renovation of Historic Buildings in 2004 and the Campden Charity & Philanthropy Award in 2012.

Taawon distributes annual funds among its programs in line with its 3-year strategic plan. The executive body submits its plans to the Programs and Projects Committee, the budget is then presented to the Board of Directors, to be approved by the Board of Trustees and endorsed by the General Assembly.

Taawon program teams are constantly monitoring the progress of projects in the field to ensure proper implementation and utilization of funds. We sense and assess needs through our continuous presence on the ground and perform project evaluation on regular basis.

Taawon derives its grants management and implementation procedures from its strategies and policies. The process starts with needs assessment, setting program strategic plans, advertising strategies and immediate needs in order to solicit grant applications, grant giving, implementation follow up, evaluation supervision, and documenting successes and lessons learnt.

Taawon adopts a rigorous selection process and due diligence on implementing partners utilizing specialized international search engines.

Taawon has a long experience and capacity to enter into strategic partnerships with foundations, trusts and associations that are interested to address international development programs. Taawon’s structure allows for both managing and re – granting; and performing the task of an “umbrella” organization to the vast network of its local partners. This guarantees that all projects/programs undergo assessment, based on Taawon’s rigorous grant policies, which adhere to international compliance best practices.

When setting programmatic directions, Taawon adopts a participatory, engaging and consultative approach with stakeholders and partners, which ensures the long-term effectiveness and sustainability of implemented programs.

Taawon provides the reach to the grass root NGOs while maintaining compliance to international standards and guaranteed impact.

Taawon adopts a pluralistic approach that values the diversity among both men and women in all its programs. Also, Taawon applies gender equality in its recruitment policies. Women make up a high percentage of our team, general assembly members and the board of directors. 

Taawoun implements its programs through partner associations and institutions. Some of these programs accommodate volunteers, but filling out volunteer forms and following up takes place directly with the partner institutions implementing the projects.