Hebron Municipality & the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH) Tuesday 27 January 2009 signed an agreement on establishing a multipurpose culture and sports center in  Hebron. The project is the biggest so far in the history of TIPH. The TIPH is contributing US$ 350 000 USD.

The center will be located in the Israeli controlled Tareq Ben Ziad area, one of the poorest neighborhoods in the city of Hebron. Some 5 000 school children and youngsters live here without any proper place to exercise sports or cultural activities.

- We hope this will provide a safe place for the children and young people in this neglected area and contribute to improving their living conditions, TIPH Head of Mission Roy C Grottheim says.

- In my vision as a Mayor of Hebron I want the children and youth in Hebron to see and experience the normal life rather than occupation, Mayor Khaled Osaily says. A second child happiness center we be established in the Southern part of the city, Mayor Osaily Added.

The project was chosen in hard competition with eleven other proposals, not least due to its location. Most of the approximately 35 000 people living in the Israeli controlled zone of Hebron are concentrated in the neighborhoods of Tareq Ben Ziad,  an area heavily affected by its proximity to the downtown settlements and by the security measures taken to protect the settlers.

- Trying to restore normalcy in such an area is at the core of our mandate, TIPH Project Manager Fazel Sabetzadeh says.

TIPH is a diplomatic civilian observer mission in the West Bank city of Hebron, consisting of personnel from Norway, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland and Turkey.