1_March 2019, Ramallah – On the occasion of the International Women’s Day (8 March), a week-long joint campaign “My Rights, Our Power” was launched today in Palestine to raise awareness on women’s fundamental human rights. The joint effort, with participation from over 30 national and international partners from civil society organizations, media outlets, and international development agencies, targets youth, women, and men in various geographic areas in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza to promote women’s human rights in Palestine.

The campaign comes at a crucial moment when the anticipated adoption of the Family Protection Bill is at a standstill, raising concerns among national and international stakeholders about the consequences of such delay on safeguarding women’s fundamental human rights in Palestine. According to the Palestine report of the International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES), nearly one in five Palestinian men (17 percent) surveyed said they had perpetrated act of physical intimate partner violence against female partners, while 21 per cent of women surveyed reported having experienced such violence.

“Family violence, usually committed by a family member who has social or economic power over others in the family, causes enormous pain and suffering to all members of the family, especially the women and children,” said a spokesperson from civil society, which has vigorously initiated the development of the Family Protection Bill (FPB), and has strongly pushed its adoption since 2004.

“The violation of women’s human rights manifests in various levels and should be also understood from economic, cultural, and social aspects,” the spokesperson added, highlighting the lack of opportunities and freedom of choice, as well as limited access to justice and services that women in Palestine still experience.

The joint campaign aims to raise awareness of the general public, especially youth, women, and men on women’s fundamental rights in line with international standards and embedded in the Family Protection Bill draft endorsed by the previous Cabinet at the end of December 2018. Five key messages, addressing women’s right to a life free of violence, right to achieve justice and seek help in case of violation of such life, as well as the right to equal opportunities and right to make one’s own choices, will be distributed through various channels such as radio, social media, helpline (121), outreach activities, and on-site events. The closing event of the joint campaign will take place on 8 March in Jerusalem and will celebrate women’s achievements using TED-style talks, followed by art performances.

“My Rights, Our Power” joint campaign is part of the global International Women’s Day 2019 campaign under the theme of “Think equal, build smart, innovate for change”. The theme focuses on innovative ways in which we can advance gender equality and the empowerment of women, particularly in the areas of social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure, echoing the theme of the 63rd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 63) taking place in New York on 11-22 March 2019.

The participating organizations of the “My Rights, Our Power” are (in alphabetical order): 17 Palestinian women’s organizations represented by Al-Muntada (coalition), British Consulate-General, Business Women Forum, CARE International, Consulate General of Sweden, Consulate General of Belgium, EUPOL COPPS, EU Representative Office, FAO, General Union of Palestinian Women, Government of Japan, CowaterSogema/GROW Project, International Labour Organization, Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, Ma’an TV, MIFTAH, Netherlands Representative Office, Nisaa FM, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development, Palestinian Family Planning and Protection Association, Representative Office of Canada, Representative Office of Denmark, SAWA, Sawasya II, Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, Sports for Life, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Representative Office of Norway, UNDP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNOPS, UN Women, Women's Centre for Legal Aid and Counseling, Women’s Studies Center.

For more information, please contact Eunjin Jeong at UN Women via eunjin.jeong@unwomen.org or 059 2321 308, Majd Beltaji at UNESCO via m.beltaji@unesco.org or 059 4501 506.

Mr. President,

We thank France for organizing this important meeting and extend our appreciation to the Chef de Cabinet of the Secretary General, the Executive Director of UN Women, the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security and the Secretary-General of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie for their efforts and important briefings.

The issue before us is of relevance not only for half the planet, but to all, given the role and contribution of women in the fields of peace and security and the untapped potential that could be unleashed by mainstreaming their participation. Since the adoption by consensus of resolution 1325 by this Council, a lot has happened, and yet we are still far from the goal of full and equal participation, including in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peace-building, and from ensuring the protection and empowerment of women. Gender equality and non-discrimination remain prerequisites for the fulfilment of the purposes and principles of this organization and all of our lofty, collective commitments, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The State of Palestine welcomes the Secretary General’s report and his commitment to implementing the women and peace and security agenda, including by placing gender at the centre of his prevention platform and surge in diplomacy. We appreciate all efforts by the UN in this regard, including by UN Women, OHCHR and UNDP, notably in the field of human rights, capacity building, employment and rule of law. We urge UN bodies, notably those operating in Palestine, including the Special Representative, to intensify their engagement and collaboration with women organizations.

Mr. President,

I wish to highlight some of Palestine’s own important efforts in this regard. The Palestinian women’s movement is one of the oldest and strongest in the region and beyond, with institutional and representative structures established as early as the 19th century. Within the PLO, the General Union of Palestinian Women was among the first unions to be established. A coordination of women frameworks within PLO political parties and other organizations has also been established as the “Women’s Affairs Technical Committee” in the aftermath of the 1991 Madrid Peace Conference.

There have been many achievements thereafter. Among them: In 2012, Palestine inaugurated a High-Level National Committee for the implementation of resolution 1325, led by the Ministry of Women Affairs in partnership with relevant Ministries and NGOs. In 2016, the State of Palestine was among the 68 countries and areas that adopted a National Action Plan on women, peace and security.

This Action Plan (2017-2019), adopted by both the Government and civil society organizations, identifies three primary objectives: 1. ensuring protection for women and girls both domestically and in the face of the Israeli occupation; 2. ensuring accountability through national and international mechanisms, with a particular focus on crimes and violations committed by the occupation; and 3. furthering women’s political participation in decision making at the national and international level. The State of Palestine also joined core IHL and human rights instruments, including CEDAW, without reservations. Women’s participation and empowerment are also important and cross-cutting objectives in the context of the National Policy Agenda (2017-2022).

We are, however, conscious that, despite all these efforts, much more work remains to be done. Only in 2009 was a women elected to the highest executive body of the PLO. Quotas are still decisive in allowing women’s election to Parliament and local councils. And while women organizations were among the strongest advocates of national reconciliation, they have been unfairly absent from reconciliation talks. The relevant legislative framework applicable in Palestine is also outdated and must be revised to ensure consistency with Palestine’s international commitments and obligations and avail women the protection and rights they are entitled to and the opportunities they deserve.

Mr. President,

The Palestinian women’s movement since its establishment over a century ago pursued the struggle on two fronts – the struggle for the independence of Palestine and the struggle for women’s rights and empowerment – a dual struggle the movement continues to pursue to this day. The Israeli occupation remains the main source of the violations of our women’s rights and their vulnerability and violence against their person. We have repeatedly called for protection of the Palestinian people, especially women and children. We have also called for accountability, a key element of resolution 1325, the first resolution to address the disproportionate and unique impact of armed conflict on women, as the only way to put an end to violations and crimes.

While Palestine stands ready to do its part to advance women rights and the role of women in the fields of peace and security, it is clear that the enjoyment of these rights in our country necessitates ending the Israeli occupation. We will thus continue to work for an end of the occupation and true progress on the path to independence, justice and peace, with the equal and full involvement of women, leading to an independent State of Palestine ensuring human rights for all its citizens without discrimination.

On the occasion of the ICC Prosecutor’s Office to Palestine, the Palestinian Women Coalition of UNSCR 1325, which consists of twelve different Palestinian women’s organisations, is urging the Prosecutor’s Office to take concrete actions towards investigating war crimes committed against Palestinians. The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom remains deeply concerned with the complete impunity of Israeli war crimes and firmly supports the Coalition’s call for a just accountability mechanism for Palestinian victims. WILPF also calls on the international community to recognise and fully support Palestinian women’s organisations substantial role in paving the paths to justice, accountability and peace. Read the statement of the Palestinian Women Coalition of UNSCR 1325 below.

We, the Palestinian Women Coalition of UNSCR 1325,welcome the visit of the delegation of the ICC Prosecutor’s Office as a step in the right direction. But we are deeply disappointed that the purpose of this visit was restricted to preliminary examination, while Palestinian victims of Israeli war crimes, including women, continue to suffer and urgently await justice and an end to Israel impunity.

We do not understand the decision to exclude the Gaza Strip from this visit, when Gaza has been the site of the most war crimes and where women have been most systematically impacted by Israeli collective punishment policies; a prolonged imposed siege and a severe humanitarian deterioration resulting from Israeli military aggressions .

We are further disappointed that women who have been systematically impacted, and their women’s organisations, have been excluded from the delegation’s agenda.

We call upon all future delegations of the ICC Prosecutor’s Office to include on their agenda meetings with women’s organisations and women who have experienced direct and indirect impacts of Israeli crimes.

We, the Palestinian Women Coalition of UNSCR 1325, have seen in UNSCR 1325, 2242, and other UN Resolutions a commitment to hold the Israeli perpetrators accountable for their war crimes.

We look to the ICC as the most important mechanism to end impunity for all war crimes committed, finally bringing justice for the Palestinian people. Yet, we are very concerned that the preliminary examinations will be an endless process.

Therefore, we urge, Ms. Fatou Bensouda, the Prosecutor of the ICC, to conclude the preliminary examination and move to investigations into Israeli war crimes, bringing justice to Palestinians.

We have paid the price of non-accountability and impunity of Israeli war crimes for too long. “Delaying justice is justice denied.”

Palestinian Women Coalition of UNSCR 1325: The General Union of Palestinian Women (GUPW), the Women’s Affairs Technical Committee (WATC), Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development (PWWSD), MIFTAH, Filastinyat, Women Media and Development (TAM), Women Stu Dies Center, Women’s Center for Legal Aid and Counseling (WACLAC), the National, YWCA of Palestine, Center for Women’s Legal Research and Consulting (CWLRC), the Culture and Free thought Association(CWLRC) and Women’s Affairs Center (GWAC).

Occupied Palestine

October 11, 2016

Looking to next week's Palestinian legislative elections, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today urged all those eligible to participate and voiced hope that this milestone will set the stage for peace and Statehood.

“You deserve a free, fair and peaceful election,” Mr. Annan said in a message to the Palestinian people released in New York. “Your electoral commission is doing outstanding work under difficult circumstances.”

He stressed that action at the ballot box will help set the course for the future, encouraged all to vote on 25 January and pledged that the UN “will remain steadfastly committed to helping you to achieve a state of your own.”

Noting that the international community is working with the Palestinian Authority to help it to ensure law and order, he stressed the importance of everyone taking part in the polling. “We believe that whether you live in the Gaza Strip or the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, you must be able to exercise your democratic rights,” he said.

The election will mark “an important milestone” in the long and difficult history of the Palestinian people. “I hope it will set you on the path to a more peaceful future, in which you at last have your own State and can live at peace with all your neighbours,” he said.

The UN, he said, is determined to help the Palestinian people to peacefully achieve an end to the occupation, and a viable, contiguous, democratic State of Palestine, living at peace with a secure Israel.

“To achieve that goal, the Palestinian Authority must pursue the path of reform and peace,” he said, stressing that the PA must establish its monopoly on the use of force.

The UN is part of the diplomatic Quartet, which also includes the United States, the Russian Federation and the European Union, working for peace in the Middle East. The Quartet has welcomed the upcoming Palestinian Legislative Council elections as a positive step toward consolidation of Palestinian democracy and the goal of a two-State solution.

The diplomatic Quartet made up of the United Nations, United States, Russian Federation and European Union today welcomed the upcoming Palestinian Legislative Council elections as a positive step toward consolidation of Palestinian democracy and the goal of a two-State solution to the Middle East conflict.

In a statement the Quartet called on the Palestinian Authority and the Central Elections Commission to ensure a free, fair, and open process in accordance with Palestinian law.

Noting the continued importance of security, the Quartet called on the Palestinian Authority to ensure law and order, prevent terrorist attacks and dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism. The Palestinian Authority was also called on to assure the security of polling stations and electoral personnel while enforcing laws like those banning the public display of weapons.

The Quartet repeated its earlier assertions that “those who want to be part of the political process should not engage in armed group or militia activities, for there is a fundamental contradiction between such activities and the building of a democratic State.” It called on all participants to renounce violence, recognize Israel's right to exist, and disarm.

The Quartet said it was “encouraged” by the negotiation of a Code of Conduct governing participation in the election scheduled for next month and called for full adherence to it. The Palestinian Authority’s invitation to international election observers was also welcomed.

The Palestinian Authority “should take additional steps to ensure the democratic process remains untainted by violence, by prohibiting political parties from pursuing their aims through violent means, and by moving expeditiously to codify this as Palestinian law,” the four diplomatic members said.

A future Palestinian Authority Cabinet “should include no member who has not committed to the principles of Israel’s right to exist in peace and security and an unequivocal end to violence and terrorism.”

Calling for an immediate and direct dialogue between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority to coordinate preparations for the elections, the Quartet pointed out that proactive measures are essential to the movement of voters, elections committee staff and materials, and international observers throughout the election process.

“Both parties should work to put in place a mechanism to allow Palestinians resident in Jerusalem to exercise their legitimate democratic rights, in conformity with existing precedent,” the Quartet said.

With a $25 million grant to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Israeli government made its first donation to a UN agency that will give the Palestinian territories an economic boost following Israel’s withdrawal from the occupied Gaza Strip.

UNDP’s Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People (UNDP/PAPP) announced today that it had received the Israeli funds to clear and rehabilitate sites in the Gaza Strip that had been occupied by evacuated Israeli settlers. The money will be used to clear and recycle more than 1.2 million tons of debris and rubble that will be milled and recycled for use as road paving and building materials.

The entire project, which will employ several hundred Palestinian workers, should be wrapped up in 18 months. UNDP has promised to move as quickly as possible so Palestinians can begin rebuilding on the evacuated sites by June 2006.

“This project is important because it not only paves the way for Palestinians to be able to use the land as soon as possible for their development plans, but also because it will generate hundreds of jobs for unemployed Palestinian laborers, contributing to the fight against the rising tide of poverty in the Gaza Strip,” said the acting head of UNDP/PAPP, Minna Tyrkk.

The Israeli government, the Palestinian Authority and the Office of the Special Envoy for the Quartet, James Wolfenshon, asked UNDP to undertake the rehabilitation project. “We are very pleased with the trust that all parties have place in UNDP/PAPP to carry out this task,” added Ms. Tyrkk.

With only 10 days left before the expiration of the original deadline of the Middle East Diplomatic Quartet’s so-called Road Map peace plan for a final and settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a top United Nations official stressed today that the plan is still the agreed framework for reaching a lasting peace in the Middle East.

“This is surely an occasion for all parties to reflect on what more they can do to ensure that Road Map obligations are met,” UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari told the Security Council, in his regular monthly briefing, regarding the plan sponsored by the Quartet consisting of the UN, European Union, United States and Russia.

Mr. Gambari said that two prime areas of concern during the delicate period before January’s Palestinian elections were the Palestinian Authority’s inability to exercise control over its territory and Israel’s sustained policy of settlement expansion and barrier construction.

The Israeli policy undermined Palestinian leaders running for office on a platform of peaceful negotiation with Israel. He said the Quartet supported the Palestinian Authority’s efforts to quickly stop armed groups from impeding law and order.

Mr. Gambari also stressed the importance of the Agreement on Movement and Access that was signed last month between the Israeli Government and the Palestinian Authority. While some aspects of the pact have been implemented, he said that World Bank officials recently reiterated at a meeting in London that continuing restrictions imposed on movement of goods and people were a major obstacle to Palestinian economic growth.

He noted that the 15 December start of convoys between Gaza and the West Bank were suspended despite efforts of the United States and Quartet Special Envoy James Wolfensohn to ensure that Israel’s security concerns were met. He hoped that discussions to break the impasse would continue.

He said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported a slight increase in the roadblocks and checkpoints in the West Bank and discussions are ongoing to develop a plan to reduce obstacles to movement there.

At the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee meeting held in London on 14 December, the Palestinian Authority, the Government of Israel and donors met to discuss the economic, fiscal and humanitarian situation in the occupied Palestinian territory and assess progress in Palestinian reform, Mr. Gambari reported.

A key theme of the meeting was the need for the Palestinian Authority to adhere to the reform agenda and re-establish fiscal discipline, he said. The authority’s deficit increased from 14 per cent to 17 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the past year and will reach 19 per cent of GDP in 2006.

“The Palestinian Authority’s fiscal situation is so acute that there is real concern that the December salaries may not be paid,” Mr. Gambari told the council. He said the Committee hoped to hold a pledging conference during the first half of 2006 to mobilize the target sum of $3 billion, as agreed in principal at the G8 Summit in October.