Ramallah – Mahmoud Rasheed Taqatqa ‘Abu Rashid’ is the head of Um Salamuna’s village council in the Bethlehem district. In spite his age – he is in his sixties – he insisted on participating in the “Tajawoob” training sessions, organized by five Palestinian and international organizations .
The project, according to CEO of MIFTAH, Dr. Lily Feidy, is funded by the British Department for International Development [DFID] and carried out by an institutional union headed by the British Council. This union includes MIFTAH, AMAN, Pal Vision, a youth organization aimed at empowering Palestinian youth in east Jerusalem, and the BBC’s International Development Fund. The project’s duration is until the end of 2015.
Of course, Abu Rashid was not the only participant in the room. The room was full of young men and women from Um Salamuna, all listening, discussing and sometimes arguing with the trainers, Ruham Nimri and Muammar Kilani. The heated discussions mostly came up when issues such as social norms and values were broached, along with issues such as the perception of women, the idea of her personal freedom and her right to education and participation.
The opinions were very different sometimes but the discussion always revolved around how to develop these concepts more positively in a context of rights and duties without completely clashing with social and cultural norms. The goal was for the participants to develop their views on these issues and later participate in slowly changing these norms.
That is why Abu Rashid was so insistent on attending and contributing. The young men and women of Um Salamuna also gave their input such as university students. Firyal Taqatqa, the head of the women’s association in the village was also there, along with her husband, a village council member.
This is not the first training course offered by MIFTAH that Abu Rashid participates in, but he says this time it was different because of the ideas that were being discussed. He even encouraged other people from his village to join, a village with a population of 1,000 people. Um Salamuna is a marginalized village on the rural outskirts of Bethlehem.
There are two female members of Um Salamuna’s village council but they don’t attend the council meetings. Abu Rashid puts the blame for this on the quota system, which imposes the presence of women in the council. Hence, when the time came to choose the two female members, it was only to fill the quota and nothing more.
Abu Rashid hopes that his and his fellow villagers’ participation in the Tajawob training will benefit Um Salamuna and change some of the prevalent norms in their community.
Firyal Taqatqa feels the same way. “I have been to several meetings before, which were focused on capacity-building and other educational issues, but these meetings and trainings have been the most beneficial for me and my colleagues,” she says, “especially since they broach important subjects in our society, including equality between men and women and ways of empowering women in their communities.”
After this latest training, Firyal is aspiring to become a member of Um Salamuna’s village council even though her husband is already a member. “Like Abu Rasheed said, the quota system currently in place is the reason why the two women members of the council are not active and do not even participate in the sessions,” she said.
She will not be deterred however. Firyal insists on continuing to participate in training courses and educational and participatory meetings, saying she hopes MIFTAH, its partners and supporters will continue to support them.
University student Hayyan Taqatqa from the same village, was an active participant in the two day discussions, especially when it came to talking about women’s liberties, their right to education and the definition of liberties and rights. The attendees discussed women’s education at length, with some supporting the education of women within socially accepted norms, and others who called for equal opportunities between women and men in education.
Hayyan said he believes that change in the culture must be slow, adding that the training given by MIFTAH and its partners offers an opportunity for the participants to contribute to making the required change, especially after certain facts about prevalent social values and concepts were clarified.
The village of Faroush Beit Dajan in the Jordan Valley was also part of the training course, given by trainer Oday Abu Karsh and Jihan Badawi. Imad Ismail, member of the Froush Beit Dajan village council and coordinator for its media committee did not hide his advocacy and support for women. He says he comes from a school of thought that believes in this right, even though he thinks the quota system for local councils is ‘provoking”, saying it does not give women the status and role they deserve.
He says the women of his village are unique, considering them all pioneers. “Our village is in Area C and our homes are made from corrugated iron. What woman agrees to live with her life partner under such circumstances? And then take on all the responsibilities of managing the house, cultivating the land and raising the livestock, not to mention all the other responsibilities they take on such as managing projects. They all deserve our appreciation and respect,” Ismail says.
Ismail, who said the workshops offered an important platform for understanding the meaning of women’s participation, also offered a snapshot of his village. “We are a population of around 1,200 people. We have tremendous livestock resources, with over 30,000 heads of sheep. We used to have land with an area of 13,000 dunams, but the Israelis left us with only 2,000. “
He also says that the two women members of the village council do not actively participate because of social pressures or by their own choice, but maintained that such workshops like MIFTAH’s have even strengthened his own personal concepts towards the role of women. “Perhaps this will have an impact on the participants as well, not only about women but also about a lot of concepts that are so prevalent in society,” Ismail says.
University graduate Anwar Sadeq says just making it to the workshop is a huge achievement, but said her father has always supported her towards learning and participation. “Even though I went to university and got an education, some of the issues that were posed in the training broadened my own awareness about certain concepts and made a huge change in how I understand social and political issues that we never really understood before.”
Now Anwar says she will not hesitate to run in local council elections in Froush Beit Dajan if she gets the chance. “Right now, I want to encourage the women members in the council to participate in making decisions. Like my father always tells me: “If you can’t do anything, you should just step away. You don’t need to be a doorknob.”
The KUMI methodology
Trainer Ruham Nimri said the training course was based on the KUMI methodology for social transformation in conflict. It is an approach that deals with deep cultures and structures of societies in places of conflict both internally and externally. The methodology delves into the deep cultures of these societies as well as establishing a set of new values and concepts, most significantly the concept of basic human needs and working towards fulfilling these needs as a condition for social transformation in conflict. The methodology also reveals the timelines of such social concepts and values, their origins and the social and cultural environment prevailing when they first emerged, in addition to understanding how these cultural and social values are being translated into deep structures, such as laws and structures of society that support and feed these cultural and social values. It is usually very difficult for participants to discuss such issues, since they become very sacred, and any attempt to question such values becomes a direct threat to their own “believes”. The premise is the shift to social transformation of conflicts rather than conflict resolution.
The subjects broached during the most recent workshops included the status of women in the targeted communities and the ways in which participants dealt with this subject. It was clear that the positions of the participants at the beginning of the workshop drastically varied from their positions today, even though originally, they were against any process for empowering women. However, at the end of day five, the participants even wanted to add more goals such as: the right of women to make their own decisions and empowering women in society.
MIFTAH releases 2021-2022 comparative actual spending reports for the social and security sectors, including social justice and gender indicators
Date posted: April 04, 2023
By MIFTAH
MIFTAH recently released 2021-2022 comparative actual spending reports for the social sector (health, education, higher education and scientific research, social development and labor), and for the first time, the security sector (Ministry of Interior and National Security). The reports were based on annual financial data released by the Ministry of Finance in Palestine for 2021-2022 and on an accrual basis.
The data showed that the Ministry of Interior and National Security had the highest percentage of actual spending in 2022, accounting for 22.8% of overall public expenditures, or ILS3.68 billion. This was a slight increase from the Ministry’s share in 2021. Meanwhile, actual spending on the education sector (Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Scientific Research) stood at 21.5% of overall public expenditures, or ILS3.48 billion. This was also an increase from the education sector’s share in 2021, which was 20.6% of public expenditures.
Moreover, actual spending on the Ministry of Health also increased in 2022, comprising 15% of overall public expenditures, at a sum of ILS2.4 billion. This was higher than in 2021, where its share was 14.4%. As for the Ministry of Social Development, actual spending was still low, amounting for 6.2% of overall public expenditures in 2022, compared to 5.8% in 2021. The Ministry of Social Development’s actual spending in 2022 was approximately ILS1 billion. As for the labor sector, actual spending on this sector in 2022 was 0.31% of overall public expenditures, while in 2021 it was 0.28%. Actual spending on the labor sector in 2022 was ILS50.1 million.
Upon review of actual spending reports of the targeted ministries from a gender and social justice perspective, it is clear that actual spending on the Ministry of Social Development does not coincide with the scope of its responsibilities as the forerunner of the social sector in Palestine, including its programs for combatting poverty and the protection of poor and marginalized social sectors. Moreover, non-compliance to the disbursement of payments for poor families within the CTP continued according to estimates, whereby only two of four installments for 2022 were disbursed, one at minimum value. This adversely affected the financial security of the most underprivileged and marginalized sectors of society, in addition to the insufficient estimated budget and actual spending on the social protection program, in spite of its importance in providing protection and social services to battered women, children, special-needs persons and the elderly.
The data also pointed to the low percentage of women working in the security sector, which stood at 6% of the total number of workers in this sector, while they comprised 46% of the civil sector. This shows a gap in actual spending on the security sector from a gender perspective, given that the lion’s share of actual spending in 2022 was on salaries and wages. Hence, women only benefited very little from these allocations, which were nearly ILS2.9 billion in 2022.
The data also indicated that the development expenditures for the Ministry of Labor were only ILS4.5 million in 2022, even though planned development expenditures were ILS32 million, which is much higher. This casts a shadow on gender-related programs and projects, which were allotted sizeable budgets within development expenditures, such as creating sustainable opportunities as alternatives for Palestinian men and women working in settlements, for which ILS10 million were earmarked.
Even though there was an increase in actual spending in 2022 at the targeted ministries in general, this increase was mainly concentrated on salaries and wages. In spite of the importance of providing a decent life for employees, there is still a need to increase spending on development expenditures, since they are at the forefront of developing government services, including the nationalization and institutionalization of various social services.
MIFTAH concludes town hall meetings on political participation and citizens’ rights for women and youth
Date posted: January 09, 2023
By MIFTAH
Ramallah – 29/12/2022 – Within its efforts to promote democratic values and the peaceful transfer of power within the Palestinian government system, MIFTAH’s field advisory team completed over 100 town hall meetings in the second half of 2022. The meetings were held in coordination and cooperation with CSOs, LGUs and grassroots organizations and targeted women and youth in several West Bank and Gaza Strip districts. The objective of these meetings was to raise awareness among the electorate on the electoral system in Palestine and on civil society demands to increase women and youth participation in local and general elections as candidates and voters, on the premise that this boosts their presence in decision-making levels and involves them in public affairs.
The town hall meetings included several exchange visits between LGU members in the various districts. The women shared the experiences and challenges they faced after becoming council members. The meetings focused on the concept of citizenship within a broader definition of the various forms of political participation and the importance of involvement from youth and women in public life. They also pointed to the different forms of democracy and the main pillars of the democratic society Palestinians seek to create. The participants furthermore discussed the various forms of electoral systems and shed light on the gaps in electoral laws regarding the presence of women and youth.
The participants pointed to the importance of periodic legislative and presidential elections and the danger of the ongoing absence of the PLC on matters pertaining to civic peace. They also warned against the absence of oversight and accountability, maintaining that the defunct PLC has contributed to shrinking civic space and public freedoms and therefore, the ability or desire to become involved in political life, especially for women and youth. In most of the meetings, the participants also indicated that the absence of a regular democratic process in Palestine contributed to the overall exclusion of youth from participation and to the marginalization of the role of women in Palestinian political decision-making.
The town hall meetings stressed on the importance of pressing for legislative, presidential and local elections in all West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza Strip districts. They also endorsed the demand for equality in electoral laws, starting with raising the women’s quota to a minimum of 30%, raising the candidacy age and lowering the threshold. They urged Palestinian factions to assume a key role in the process of inclusion for women and youth in the public sphere and to prevent the progression of tribalism in the democratic process. The attendees emphasized the importance of monitoring the performance of LGUs in their interaction with local communities and the consistency of their meetings. Finally, they said female council members must be given the opportunity to exercise their role in their respective councils as equals to their male counterparts.
MIFTAH holds town hall meetings on an annual basis as part of its awareness campaign on citizens’ rights and the promotion of the democratic approach for a peaceful transfer of power, in addition to the involvement of women and youth in elections as both candidates and voters. Each year, through these town hall meetings, MIFTAH aims to reach the widest possible segment of the electorate and the different social sectors in all parts of Palestine.
MIFTAH completes training workshop in the Gaza Strip on family protection and advocacy
Date posted: January 05, 2023
By MIFTAH
Gaza – 2/1/2023 – MIFTAH recently completed a training workshop on measures and regulations on family protection in the Gaza Strip. The workshop was part of MIFTAH’s strategic objectives to prioritize family issues in communities and to support local institutions in increasing awareness on citizenship and constitutional rights for Palestinian women and on combatting all forms of GBV and discrimination in Palestinian society.
The workshop’s objectives included providing institutions with important information on the legislations, laws and measures for family protection in effect in the Gaza Strip, in a bid to enhance the oversight role of CSOs in holding accountable official parties responsible for enforcing these measures and legislations. The training also included offering institutions the necessary mechanisms for managing digital and media campaigns to press for the ratification of laws and legislation that protect women’s rights.
The discussions focused on a number of points, including legal (including sharia law) rebuttals to claims from parties opposing legislation, including the Family Protection Law. They also discussed how applicable this law would be in the Gaza Strip once ratified by the President.
The participants unanimously agreed that they supported adoption of the law, giving no credence to the claims of more extreme elements in Gaza on the Family Protection Law. They called on MIFTAH to hold general, open meetings with the public to introduce them to the law and its importance, so that they could defend themselves from the extremist discourse surrounding it.
Opinions and impressions
One of the participants, Latifa Shatat, said such training workshops were crucial for every Palestinian, male and female. “It is great we are pressing for protection laws such as the Family Protection Bill. This law will have tremendous impact on society as a whole. I can say from experience as a social and mental health worker that protection is the most important element in our work, especially in cases involving women and children, who are the most vulnerable social sectors. I commend MIFTAH and anyone who participates in spreading a culture of nonviolence, protection, justice and equality.”
Meanwhile, Haifa Al Araj said the training offered important details about the Family Protection Law and also ways of conducting initiatives and activities that could produce positive results in mobilizing support it.
Another participant, Hatem Abu Ta’a, said the training was a new starting point for him as an institution director in terms of integrating the demand to implement the Family Protection Law in all advocacy and lobbying activities and programs. He said he became more aware of the impediments to the law’s implementation at the official and social level, saying, “This training reminds us to renew our calls to demand implementation and ratification of the law at the official level.”
Meanwhile, Mahmoud Abu Rabee said ratification of the Family Protection Law would be a huge step, for women and children especially. “This law will amplify women’s voices and their ability to access help with stronger and more supportive centers throughout the homeland. As a strong supporter of this bill, I want to stress on the importance of civil society institutions explaining the clauses in the bill pertaining to CEDAW and to also focus on working with parties that oppose the law in particular.”
The training workshop is part of MIFTAH’s “Policy dialogue and Good Governance” Program, which aims at influencing public policies and legislation in favor of protection for citizens’ rights in Palestinian society, based on the principles of social justice and respect for human rights.
