International Women’s Day 2005
Today, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, 11 UN agencies[1] operating in the occupied Palestinian territory have put their voices together in a call to action for the protection of Palestinian women from the political, economic and social insecurity that threatens their wellbeing.
“In Beijing, the nations of the world recognized that gender equality, peace and development are inexorably linked, but ten years later, it is still a Palestinian woman’s face that we see in this conflict when we speak of suffering from poverty, social upheaval and violence.” says Alia El-Yassir, UNIFEM Programme Coordinator.
- Women in the occupied Palestinian territory face particular challenges due both to the ongoing conflict situation coupled with internal constraints, including:
- Poverty: As a result of growing unemployment, declining incomes, loss of property due to house demolitions, land requisitions and levelling, the number of poor people has reached more than 2.2 million. Approximately 11% of the affected households, which are living on less than $2 per day, are female-headed households, which studies show are suffering more acutely from the continuing cycle of poverty and vulnerability.
- Low political participation: Less than 6% of PLC members are women and there are only 2 women in the new Palestinian cabinet. Palestinian Authority institutions have a representation of only 13% women, which decreases to below 1% at the local government level. Women account for just over 10% of lawyers and less than 9% of judges
- School drop-out: Early marriage contributes to 46% of the drop-out rate for female students, particularly at the secondary level, due to the limitation of compulsory education and the worsening economic situation.
- Food insecurity: 368,480 non-refugee Palestinian women are food aid dependent, constituting 49% of the total number of non-refugee beneficiaries in oPt.
- Lack of access to reproductive health services: 31% of pregnant women are anaemic. Home deliveries increased from 5.2% (2000) to over 30% (2003); 61 women delivered at checkpoints between September 2000 and October 2004, out of which 36 were stillbirths.
- Low participation in formal labour force: 82.7 % of women in the West Bank and 90.5% of women in the Gaza Strip are outside the labour force, reflecting a heavy burden of care, a large portion of unpaid work, low levels of qualification and limited job opportunities that are clustered in a small number of occupations. About 25% of working women from refugee camps in oPt are employed in elementary occupations, which are low-paid and irregular.
- The Barrier: If construction of the Barrier continues as planned, an estimated 50,000 Palestinians in the area between the Barrier and the Green Line would be adversely affected by loss of work, limited freedom of movement resulting in limited access to health and education services, migration and psychosocial burdens. Women would suffer the impact more deeply due to social fragmentation and loss of personal freedoms.
The UN agencies call upon:
- Israeli authorities to ensure the protection and safety of Palestinian women as well as their unconditional access to crucial services in health, nutrition, education and employment.
- the Palestinian Authority to provide legislation that ensures formal and substantive equality and equity between men and women in respect to all their human rights, in line with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. (CEDAW)
- the international community to ensure that all parties to the conflict respect human rights laws and principles and abide by International Humanitarian Law regarding the protection of civilians, including women; and that an environment be created that is conducive of Palestinian reform and institution-building processes that are based on gender equality and equity standards.
My Rights, Our Power: A Joint Campaign Launched in Palestine to Raise Awareness on Women’s Fundamental Human Rights
Date posted: March 09, 2019
By UN Women
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.
