Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion inaugurated the largest welfare complex in the east of the city on Sunday.
The "Mamuniya" welfare office is about 2,000 square meters large, making it the largest and most modern building in the city.
The complex was constructed in cooperation with the National Lottery and the National Insurance Funds.
The complex houses two municipal social services departments, including services for people with disabilities and their families.
There will be a family center focusing on group activities for young children and mothers.
The complex will also contain a regional center for the treatment and prevention of domestic violence, which will provide services to men and women who are in the cycle of violence and to children who witness violence between parents.
Long term planning
The opening of the complex is another step toward the establishment of the city's "Silicon Valley"—Kiryat Hi-tech plan, which is hoped will add thousands of jobs in the east of the city.
Adjacent to the complex is Kidron Park, which was inaugurated at the beginning of the previous year and contains about 30 square k.m. of grass and advanced sports facilities for the public.
Moshe Lion said at the inauguration, "The moves for accelerated development in east Jerusalem - in infrastructure, in the education system and in public buildings, are also reflected in the field of welfare. Behind these moves, which are unprecedented in their scope and cost, is a basic and valuable principle: it is our duty as a municipality to ensure an equal level of services for all the city's residents."
"In recent years, we have invested billions in the east of the city, and the results of this huge investment are increasingly visible on the ground - just as this center is. Every public building we raise here, every new institution that starts in the east of the city, also brings with it a significant message: a message of community empowerment, of a shared life, and of equal opportunities," he added.