Review date: 17 July 2010

UNDP launched the Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People (PAPP) in the late 1970s. The UNDP/PAPP website follows, to a large extent, the worldwide UNDP Web-presence branding guidelines, and the site is available in English as the default language with a direct link to the Arabic version.

The UNDP/PAPP site is structured around the traditional three-column layout in addition to a top banner. The banner hosts the main cascading menu and language switch on top, followed by a header across the page that features the title, a fading random image, and the UNDP logo.

The top menu bar provides access to the programme’s core content. On the far left, UNDP Home is a means to access the main page and, on the far right, Arabi takes us to the Arabic version. The core content is spread across four two-level menus: About UNDP/PAPP, MDGs, Focus Areas, and Newsroom.

About UNDP/PAPP introduces the programme, provides some facts about the Palestinian people, offers information about the UN and its agencies working in Palestine, lists donors and their contributions, links to the websites of UNV and TOKTEN (UN Volunteers and Transfer of Knowledge Through Expatriate, explains internship in terms of eligibility and type of work, lists available vacancies and how to apply (on a dedicated sub-site), highlights the procurement process, and offers a learning section where training material and schedule can be found.

The second main menu is MDGs (Millennium Development Goals). A scorecard and related media, resources, and press articles are available under the MDGs Attainment submenu, while Overview explains the eight goals. There is also a related MDG report and a link to the Millennium Project (from the parent UNDP site).

Focus Areas is the third main menu, which starts with an introduction and lists the six activity sectors in brief. Each of these is also available as a submenu and links to a full page that features approach, projects and related news. The focus areas are Democratic Governance, Poverty Reduction, Crisis Prevention and Recovery, Energy and Environment, Information Technology, and HIV/AIDS. Other areas such as health, education, and gender are also cited elsewhere.

The Newsroom menu has a collection of resources that range from press releases and speeches to media, publications, and links.

The left column features images from projects and publications, Links to UNDP’s early recovery work in Gaza, links to follow UNDP on social networks such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Flicker. It concludes with PAPP magazine, and a Google search box.

A news ticker tape spans the second and third columns and links to the main UNDP news site, followed by a flash movie that represents focus areas. Recent news fills most of the main area.

The third column has miscellaneous graphic links to activities, project factsheets for West Bank and Gaza, tenders, and vacancies plus a summary of main Palestinian development indicators.

The page concludes with three recent reports and assorted menu items such as contact, copyright, FAQ, information policy, hotline (wrongdoing online reporting form), and jobs.
Overall, the UNDP/PAPP site is content-rich and informative, however it is not fully compatible with Firefox as opposed to Internet Explorer.

Abed A. Khooli, IT/KM specialist
Mr. Khooli can be reached at
akhooli@arabic2000.com.