Ramallah – As part of its “Gender Equity and Protection” project, funded by UNFPA, 17 women activists from three districts: Jericho and the Jordan Valley, Nablus and Hebron, participated in a workshop organized by MIFTAH, which focused on a review of the activities in the 2013-2015 strategic plan for the UN Resolution 1325 coalition.
Outputs for 2013-2014
Nablus district:
Four hundred people participated in meetings and learned about Resolution 1325, and who now have increased awareness about the importance of the resolution and its direct relationship to the Palestinian reality (women prisoners, refugees, women living close to Israeli settlements). Two workshops were organized around the sexual harassment and reproductive health through the Women’s Committee. At least 10 films were shown to around 200 people about the concept of violence and its types, namely youth violence. Also documentary films about “prisoner violence, settler violence and family violence” were shown. Ten field visits were made and women’s activities were held in areas in close proximity to the settlements. A local nucleus for the General Women’s Union was formed. Also, activities were held in solidarity with refugee camps in the Diaspora and letters were sent out to the media describing the status of female prisoners.
Hebron district:
A total of 20 violations were documented in the old city of Hebron and in the refugee camps of Hebron and Bethlehem. These violations included health-related issues such as abortion, verbal, physical and sexual harassment, lack of freedom of movement, access to public and basic services, follow-up on maternal issues, shedding light on marginalized areas and monitoring the basic needs of women in the old city and in the camps, in addition to further understanding the concept of Resolution 1325 and its meaning to experts and specialists.
The meetings were very bold in terms of the issues posed, especially regarding sexually-transmitted diseases and reproductive health in relation to Resolution 1325. Around 500 male and female youths benefited from these meetings, in particular university students. Several flyers and brochures were printed on these subjects.
A group of marginalized women were targeted to be part of the women’s political participation initiative. This allowed for the opportunity to strengthen and deepen their awareness on issues related to political participation, the importance of women and her significance in gender-related decision-making positions. A support group was also formed to complement the work of the women.
Ten meetings were held to raise awareness on Resolution 1325 in all the women’s centers in the Hebron district. One aim was to encourage women to raise their voices and confidently document violations in various districts in addition to participating more in issues that concern women in terms of reaching decision making positions and making marginalized women’s voices heard.
Jericho district
The Jericho and Jordan Valley coalition was able to put 1325 into action by training a group of youths from both sexes on documenting Israeli violations. Two trainers from the youth groups were also trained on 1325 and how to raise awareness among female workers in Israeli settlements on the Resolution and on the Labor Law. They also aimed at raising the overall awareness of these workers to the violence women are subjected to by middlemen. Eight youths were trained from various organizations who will now be able to train other youth groups in addition to the training and awareness raising of 1,300 people from all age groups and various areas on Resolution 1325. Five hundred other male and female participants were trained on documenting violations. In all, 10 cases of house and animal shed demolitions were documented. Another achievement was obtaining work permits from the transportation ministry for a bus company in order to solve the transportation in Jordan Valley areas, especially Jiftlik.
2014 plans for Resolution 1325 coalition
During the meeting, the participants presented proposals for the coalition’s plans for 2014 regarding Resolution 1325 in the Jericho and Jordan Valley, Hebron and Nablus districts in order to continue their efforts to raise awareness on the resolution. The plans entail holding 15 meetings on empowering women and human rights in addition to raising awareness on the issue of settlement middlemen and the so-called economic peace project.
The plan also proposes the formation of a committee of the coalition’s organizations and training this committee on documentation, creating news and portraying them in the media. Another recommendation was to prepare a study on the number of men and women working in the settlements and the number of middlemen, in addition to awareness meetings on the Labor Law. It also includes confronting those in charge of the economic peace project and finding out what the direct results of this project will be. The plan also includes exchange visits for coalitions, summer camps for women to be introduced to Resolution 1325 and a central summer camp for children ages 12-18 in the Jericho and Jordan Valley areas to acquaint them with the resolution. A ‘fun day’ for women working in the settlements is also included in the plan along with union and ministry officials.
For the Hebron district, the 2014 plan proposed holding a summer camp for women from the old city and Tel Rumeida in addition to awareness raising meetings in the camps and in Area C. The plan also included films on women’s issues and visits to other communities, workshops on sexually transmitted diseases and reproductive health. Another recommendation was to set up a support team for documentation of diseases and to hold trainings on economic empowerment. An initiative to document Israeli violations against women prisoners and refugees was also part of the plan.
As for the Nablus district, the plan proposes three training courses for local women on filling out questionnaires to be distributed in the area south of Nablus (Aseera, Qusra, Jaloud) and in the southwest (Sabastiya, Burqa, Deir Sirn) and inside the city, refugee camps and villages directly around it. Awareness workshops will be held in marginalized areas, films shown and violations against women prisoners documented in addition to workshops on women’s rights. The targeted groups include female university students and housewives. A special workshop will be held on the issue of women prisoners revolving around female prisoners and women’s law. The media will be used to disseminate the coalition’s activities and issue press releases on violations by the Israeli occupation.
Myassar Atyani from the freed prisoners’ committee said in her presentation that female prisoners are not merely a number but real people, adding that prisoner salaries are an obligation and an acquired right . She called for integrating freed female prisoners in civil and government society. Atyani also recommended that husbands are included in the health insurance of their freed prisoner wives, especially those who were imprisoned before the Oslo Accords were signed, namely between 1967 and 1990 who have no social security or health insurance.
Obstacles to the plan
The Jericho, Jordan Valley and Hebron coalitions all agreed on the obstacles they faced during 2013, mainly trying to convince people to fill out the questionnaires on the violations. This is because of their lack of confidence in the outputs, saying the solutions were not practical for those who face these attacks. They also cited the difficulties they faced in movement in order to document violations, especially in the Jordan Valley and Hebron and then in speaking about them. This was particularly true among women who were afraid of the consequences from the occupation. Other difficulties cited were problems in field coordination between the coalition organizations, government organizations and civil society organizations in addition to the difficulty in working with universities in this coordination process.
Other obstacles included: lack of a coordinator to follow up on all the initiatives with the members of the coalition.; lack of a clear network between the coalitions in the districts [Jericho, Jordan Valley, Hebron and Nablus]; lack of implementing some of the initiatives due to money constraints and the fact that partner organizations could not contribute along with MIFTAH; lack of networking within the same network in each area; lack of cooperation from male members of the Bedouin societies; lack of funding to follow up and sustain initiatives.
The issues to be focused on in 2014 activities , according to the participants are: violations exclusive to Jericho, the Jordan Valley and Hebron; women’s labor inside settlements; the role of middlemen in this labor market; salary cuts; awareness on reproductive rights and STDs; awareness over Resolution 1325 in general; documenting violations and training on a new questionnaire; labor and health rights among women whereby the message is conveyed to both the beneficiaries and to decision makers; training clergymen and religious preachers [male and female] on the resolution; documenting violations in new areas such as Tel Rumeida, Fawar and Arroub camps and other Bethlehem-area camps and waging an awareness campaign among students and women on the issue of unsafe abortions.
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.
