Under the auspices of Prof. Rami Hamdallah, President of An-Najah University, and Ta’awon Institution in Palestine and under the sponsorship of Al-Noor Charitable Institution and Uhdet Alfadel Al-Jadida Institution, a special ceremony was held to celebrate the laying of the foundation stone of An-Najah Childhood Institute.

Attendees included: Dr. Tuqaidah Al-Jarbawi, General Director at Ta’awon Institution, Mr. Tareq Al-Zu’bi, Representative of Al-Noor and Uhdet Alfadel Al-Jadida, Professor Marco Sala, Director of the Our Family Institution in Italy which is the major partner in the project, Mrs. Anan Attireh, Deputy Governor of Nablus, in addition to representatives of the health sector and other.

Prof. Hamdallah delivered a speech in which he welcomed the guests to the ceremony in which the University celebrates the laying of the foundation stone of another important project which is the Childhood Institute.

He said that the establishment of this institute aims to serve the educational and developmental process in Palestine and to lay the basic elements needed for the education of the children and protection against all sorts of oppression and injustice. The project seeks to save the children from the difficult situations they face which affect their developmental, behavioral and nervous development; such problems include: Diseases, disorders, autism, excessive activity and lack of attention and concentration among children.

Moreover, Prof. Hamdallah said there is a need to study and develop knowledge and factors connected with these problems and to know how to deal with them on the local level. This can be achieved through adopting early child development programs and special education in order to build a conscious society that embraces all children and works on improving the quality of their life.

The Institute will seek to achieve several goals including: Offering early detection services, diagnosing children and children with disabilities, and contributing effectively to the implementation of policies and social changes that would contribute to the reinforcement of children’s rights and improvement of their conditions. The Institute will have several functions such as the evaluation and detection of lack of growth diseases, and shall serve as a training center for children, general doctors, teachers, psychologists and research centers.

Dr. Al-Jarbawi said in her speech that this pioneering project came as a result of an in-depth study that was conducted in the field of childhood. The importance of the Institute stems out from the fact that it is dedicated to one of the most significant cases which is Autism; the Institute will provide these children with proper care within a healthy and suitable environment, and will set laws that would protect children with disabilities.

Dr. Sala presented a detailed description of the Institute, its importance and the tasks it will carry out with respect to providing children with different services. He also spoke about the “Our Family” Institution in Italy and the different tasks and activities it carries out in many countries around the world in the field of health, education and key social issues.