Ramallah – MIFTAH- key findings of the special analytical report for measuring “the impact of funding and support given to local councils and the extent to which they take into consideration gender issues”, which is run by the Municipalities Development and Loans Fund (MDLF). MIFTAH through the workshop recommended the inclusion of gender concepts in the Fund’s policies and programs. A new work strategy would be reflected in the vision and mission and in the programs, activities and projects of the Fund, thus institutionalizing gender as a reflected change process and not only as a goal.

The recommendations were made during a workshop in Ramallah last week as part of the activities for the program “Towards Institutionalizing a Gender-Responsive Budget”, which MIFTAH carried out in 2013. This program is implemented in partnership with UN-WOMEN and the European Union through the program” Financing Gender Equality” and is aimed at capacity building for civil society organizations in the field of gender-responsive budgets. The report includes a multi-dimensional analysis of networks and communication of the MDLF given that it is considered the financial medium between the main funding and the municipalities.

Program director Lamis Shuaibi opened the workshop by pointing out that the report’s key findings take on an analytical vision targeting the Municipality Development Program (MDP)/ first phase, run by the MDLF, with the goal of coming out with practical recommendations that contribute to the development of policies and approaches within the framework of gender mainstreaming into policies, programs and plans, both in the local government sector and within the MDLF. She commended the cooperation of the MDLF in terms of providing the necessary literature and information.

Planning

In terms of planning, the workshop recommended that a group of steps be taken to convey the concept of sound planning and the participation of various sectors of society in addition to awareness and access of information.

Financial policies

The participants recommended a modification of the guidebook for preparing budgets to include the Cabinet decision to prepare Gender-Responsive Budgets; they also recommended the formation of a unit within the MDLF whose main purpose would be to communicate with the municipalities and brief them on their vision of the projects within a social context.

Role of the municipalities

The recommendations also called for giving municipalities a bigger role in carrying out projects within a wide range of departments, as the women’s department and public services.

The participants pointed out that including the concept of participation is to be reflective of a true participation of women in addition to the need for participation and dialogue from all parties in society. This will eventually lead to a shift from the stage of dialogue to one of action through turning initiatives into action on the ground in terms of monitoring and ratifying policies by the community and then carrying them out. It also applies to designing training programs that are linked to the infrastructure and raising awareness of the planners to gender issues. Focus should be put on linking infrastructure projects with a theme so that this is the center of the development issue that municipalities seek to achieve each year. The projects should also be linked to social concepts that look at the various roles of men and women and have strategic and practical interests, especially regarding women’s issues.

Main conclusions

The participants completed the workshop by presenting the main conclusions. The most significant conclusion was that there is a direct correlation between the MDLF agenda and the response of the community to certain criteria, even if superficial.

It should be noted that one of the things the MDLF has been doing lately is to review its policies pertaining to various gender issues. Thus, the report only reinforced what the fund had begun.

The vision of the MDLF and municipalities is focused through its developmental and strategic plans on goals linked to the infrastructure and development projects such as expanding the road network and rehabilitating or building schools, water networks, sewage systems, etc. Hence, the developmental goal is achieved through a vision that reflects itself in a change-oriented policy framework, touching the lives of people, men and women alike.

Furthermore, it is possible to develop a system of strategic goals that serve gender issues and minimize the gender gap through infrastructure projects, which could also be reflected in social-change programs that achieve justice and fairness for women’s movements in various geographic localities.

The participants also pointed to the gap in the work vision and content and financial policies and their response to gender, which means that a strategic perspective able to comprehend the social needs of each sector from a gender perspective or achieve gender justice is lacking.

Also, because of the discriminatory perspective taken by municipalities towards marginalized sectors of society, namely women, the participants also recommended that the MDLF could work to employ local expertize and deepen positive initiatives towards achieving a system for structural change within the municipalities and their vision towards gender implications.

Director General of the MDLF Abdel Ghani Nofal commended MIFTAH for its support of local councils and civil society, pointing to the organization’s role in supporting female local council members in elections. Nofal stressed that the MDLF should have a pioneering role in terms of pushing gender issues forward, “especially since we are in the stage of state-building and national liberation,” he said.

Financial director of the MDLF said the report included highlights that the MDLF and its partner organizations could benefit from, saying that the Ministry of Local Government is the spearhead for contributing to the development of municipalities.

Laila Duibis, program director at Sharek Youth Forum said the report reflects a new phase for municipalities to make a change and support gender issues and marginalized sectors.

Finally, Basma Naji, a consultant for the gender and local governance forum said the report could open up opportunities for everyone in the field of development, adding that the role of the government was to monitor and guarantee decentralized transparency and accountability. She also said the report could be used for development in many other fields.