On June 8^th 2010, under the auspices of His Excellency Prime Minister Dr. Salam Fayyad, the University hosted a ceremony celebrating the completion of a number of specialized training courses in which a number of educational counselors, psychological and social specialists, as well as school health staff participated. These courses focused on several issues related to drugs prevention, dangerous drugs, consultative intervention in dealing with addiction cases, as well as the preparation of alternative prevention methods.

The celebration was held at Martyr Zafer Al-Masri Auditoriums at the Old Campus. Among the attendants was Dr. Ghassan Shakaa, member of the Executive Body in the Palestinian National Authority, the University President, Prof. Rami Hamdallah, Majida Al-Masri, Minister of Social Affairs, the French Consul, Mr. Frédéric Desagneaux, Abdel Jabbar Burqan, Director of the General Directorate for Drug Control as well as a number of representatives of several official and public institutions.

Dr. Iyad Ottman, Director of Friends of Life Society for Drug Control, delivered a speech in which he congratulated the University on its achievements such as the ranking it received by the Webometrics, the opening of the new library and the Media Center as well as the National Teaching Hospital.

Furthermore, he discussed the issue of drugs in Palestine and illustrated that drugs are a dangerous phenomenon that threatens both the society and the individual alike. Drug abuse has spread widely in the society and more people began to be affected by this issue. The Palestinian society is now at an increasing risk of being negatively affected by drugs, therefore, the society must adopt a number of awareness programs that have the goal of fighting this phenomenon and eliminate it for good.

Ms. Al-Masri stressed the importance of activating and supporting the efforts that the many local organizations exert in order to control drug abuse in the society. She further said that the Ministry of Social Affairs pays a great attention to this issue and coordinates all efforts and available resources to reduce the severity of this phenomenon.

Mr. Desagneaux on his part emphasized that France will continue to support the Palestinian Authority in all fields of life, especially with respect to fighting drugs. He also mentioned that the Fighting Drug Abuse project is one example of the cooperation between the two countries which aims to eliminate this phenomenon and protect the people in Palestine from the hazardous repercussions that result from drug abuse. The participants also called for more cooperation between the different bodies in the society such as the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Social Affairs in order to control drug abuse in the country.