A 15-year-old girl has been appointed temporary mayor of a northern West Bank town as part of a youth empowerment initiative, according to Ma’an news.Bashayir Othman will serve as mayor of her town of Illar for the duration of her summer holiday. She will spend two months performing all of the mayor’s duties from signing official documents to human resources under the supervision of the elected mayor of Illar, Sufian Shadid. She will not be responsible for financial matters.
Othman said she is anxious to prove that young Palestinians are capable of taking on leadership in the future.
Mayor Shadid concurred with this saying, “All we need is will and faith in the youth’s abilities.”
