Birzeit University President Khalil Hindi signed two cooperation agreements with the Danish Representative to the Palestinian Authority Lars Adam Rehof on March 14, 2013. The first agreement will develop a Palestinian Digital Archive project, housed by the university’s Ibrahim Abu Lughod Institute of International Studies (IALIIS). The second agreement will support curriculum on the constitution and women’s rights at the university’s Institute of Law (IoL).

 

The signing ceremony was attended by Vice President for Academic Affairs Adnan Yahya, Vice President for Community Outreach Samia Halileh, IoL director Jamil Salem, and IALIIS director Abdul Karim al-Barghouthi, the archive project team and a number of IoL staff members.

The Palestinian Digital Archive Project will be supported for one year under this agreement, as it collects all types of documents relating to the lives of Palestinians as individuals, families and institutions from the beginning of the Ottoman era to present.

The second agreement will spread awareness of constitutional law, human rights and gender issues among judges, lawyers, law students and concerned civil society organizations. This project will be implemented over two years, starting on April 1, 2013 and ending March 31, 2015.

President Hindi commended the ongoing efforts by the Danish Representative Office to work with various sectors to build the institutions of a future Palestinian state.

Mr. Rehof said he valued working with BZU in the context of a relationship based on partnership and cooperation to stimulate reform initiatives and maintain a historical legacy.