RAMALLAH, June 14, 2012 (WAFA) - On his second day in the OPTs, David Quarrey, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office Director for the Middle East and North Africa, announced UK funding for the Sharek Youth Council, a youth-led volunteering organization for social, political, and economic empowerment of young Palestinians, FCO Press Release said.

 Quarrey held a round table meeting with fifteen Palestinian youth activists at the Sharek Youth Forum where he announced £10,000 of funding to the Sharek Youth Local Council Project in Aroub refugee camp.

The project aims to build leadership, democracy and good governance skills for young Palestinians through direct engagement with electoral processes and an understanding of concepts of democratic participation and citizenship. This funding is a part of the UK government’s strategic response to the Arab Spring: working with those in the region that want to put the  building blocks of more open, free societies, underpinned by vibrant economies, in place

 Earlier in his visit, David Quarrey met with President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss ways of strengthening the UK- Palestinian relationship. In addition, Quarrey toured Al Fasayel village in the Jordan Valley to see on the ground the issues in Area C.

Speaking about his visit, David Quarrey said: “My visit here reflect the extremely high priority that the British Government attaches to achieving a just and lasting peace between Palestinians and Israel. Over the course of this week, I have been struck by both the scale of the challenges and by the need to tackle them now. The changes elsewhere in the region make peace here more urgent and more necessary than ever.”

 “I told President Abbas that the British Government strongly opposes settlement expansion: it is endangering the two state solution and must stop. I reassured him that Britain remains a firm friend of the Palestinian people. And I encouraged him to pursue dialogue with Israel as the only way to achieve a just and lasting peace,” he concluded.