Minister Hamad Participates in Workshop on Institutional Memory in Light of the War on Gaza
Ramallah – Acting Minister of Social Development and Minister of State for Relief Affairs, Dr. Samah Hamad, participated in a specialized workshop organized by the Ministry of Justice in Ramallah under the title: “Institutional Memory of Palestinian Public Institutions Amid the War: Post-October 2023 Assessment.” The event brought together ministers, national leaders, and international representatives to evaluate the impact of the aggression on Gaza on state records and discuss mechanisms to protect and restore lost institutional memory.
In her address, Dr. Hamad stressed that the aggression on Gaza had destroyed the archives of numerous institutions, exacerbating the challenges of service delivery and tracking affected families. She noted that thousands of families were displaced or lost without documentation, posing a serious threat to the social protection system. She explained that the Ministry is actively working to update the National Social Registry, which currently includes data on 350,000 families, through joint efforts with volunteers, government bodies, and international organizations, coordinated under the emergency operations room established after the first ceasefire.
She emphasized that data documentation is no longer a mere administrative task—it is now an integral part of national resilience. Dr. Hamad called for greater investment in digitalization and the integration of efforts to build a robust national registry capable of withstanding future crises.
She also highlighted the role of the Government Emergency Operations Room, which was formed after the initial ceasefire and plays a central role in coordinating the humanitarian and social response in Gaza. The Ministry of Social Development leads the social protection pillar within the room, directing interventions based on real-time field data.
Dr. Hamad described the operations room as an effective model for institutional collaboration, helping to ensure the fair distribution of aid, monitoring of gaps, and follow-up on the conditions of affected families—especially amid ongoing displacement and the loss of official documents.
The workshop featured remarks from the Minister of Justice, the Supreme Judge, the Minister of Health, and representatives from the Quartet and the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF). All emphasized the importance of institutional memory as a cornerstone of Palestinian state resilience, and the need to develop legal and technical frameworks to protect official records, particularly in Gaza.
The event concluded with a call to develop a comprehensive national plan to safeguard institutional memory and to unify governmental, civil society, and international efforts to ensure the continuity of institutions and the protection of rights amid deliberate attempts to erase or distort the Palestinian narrative.
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