In order to encourage both excellence and creativity in the arts and sciences, the Foundation launched a a number of special grants and prizes in the framework of a Culture and Science Programme in September 1999. The Programme met with considerable interest and success, particularly among young people and professionals working in our target areas.
The programme fields are reviewed on a yearly basis. This process is undertaken in consultation with experts in the various fields covered by the Programme, both in and outside Palestine, and the new programme document is announced in the autumn.
In 2006, the Programme was renamed Culture and Arts Programme and its science activities taken over by the Qattan Centre for Educational Research and Development.
General Parameters
The Programme is based on the following general parameters:
a) Excellence and seriousness;
b) Originality, novelty and creativity;
c) An equal opportunities policy based on non-discrimination according to sex, religion or political affiliation;
d) The effect of the project in raising the standard of the beneficiaries’ level of technical know-how and skill;
e) The effect of introducing Palestinian and Arab societies to cultural and educational issues in other countries of the world, and introducing the peoples of other countries to our own culture;
f) The effect of strengthening the cultural relations between Palestinians and the rest of the Arab world, as well as strengthening the relations between those Palestinians living in Palestine and those in the Diaspora.
Juries
The Foundation generally works with independent voluntary juries and committees of experts in each of the programme fields in order to avoid relying on a heavy bureaucratic machinery and to ensure that the grants’ and prize recipients are chosen with a maximum degree of transparency and fairness.
The A.M. Qattan Foundation reserves the right to withhold the granting of any of its prizes and grants if it deems that the works or individuals who have applied for them have not reached the necessary levels of seriousness or competence.
