WUNRN
Peace X Peace
PALESTINE - NABLUS WOMEN ORGANIZE TO
CHALLENGE GENDER DIVIDES
Samin Malik -
“The way most of the world’s women are raised is to think they are not equals to men and therefore unable to make any of the changes they would like to incorporate into their lives. They did not grow up with encouragement to seize their goals, let alone were they told that they are deserving of achieving them. It is instilled in them that they are second-class citizens.”
–Suhad Jabi Masri, Psychosocial Program Manager at Tomorrow’s Youth
Organization
In
I joined the team at Tomorrow’s Youth Organization (TYO) in the summer of
2011 as the first Coordinator of the Women’s Group (TWG), which sought to address these
issues by socially engaging the women of Nablus, a small West Bank city about
60 km north of Jerusalem. When I first moved here to
“TWG is not just comprised of English, IT, and Fitness classes, but part of
the mission is also to provide women with a sense of belonging,” says Suhad
Jabi, my dear friend and TYO’s Psychosocial Program Manager. “After
conducting our community needs
assessment this year we found that of 91 women surveyed from
disadvantaged areas of
I’m so proud of how far TWG has come in just three sessions. We’ve brought several specialists from local organizations to foster confidence and ambition in women from various viewpoints, including nutrition with the Union of Health Care Committees, family planning with the Palestinian Charitable Family Planning & Protection Association, literacy with the Association of Women’s Committees in Palestine, finance management with the Consumer Protection Society, and volunteerism with An-Najah University. The way I see it, there are five linkages to women’s empowerment, and through TWG we have addressed them as follows:
Ownership over Resources
Women are in charge of securing food and water, as well as of overseeing family health and diet. They tend to put lessons learned in seminars about nutrition and food processing and storage into practice.
Reproductive Health Awareness
Women are more vulnerable than men to reproductive health problems, so the ability to control their own fertility is the fundamental step towards their empowerment and equality. When a woman can plan her family, she can plan all aspects of her life.
Economic Involvement
Economic disparities persist because of people’s inclination to assume traditional gender roles, discrimination from employers, and women’s lack of confidence in their capabilities. With more skill trainings and seminars on capitalizing on their talents, women can be on their way to finding economic empowerment.
Right to Education
There is an old saying – knowledge is power – and the more women understand that, the more passionately they will instill it in the next generation. Without education, how is it possible for women to know that something better exists beyond what they are told by the patriarchal societies they live in?
Community Consciousness and Investment
Nothing is guaranteed, especially not the rights of women. If women seek equality, employment, and political participation, they must be aware of opportunities to be proactively involved in bringing that to fruition. Adopting a spirit of giving back to their community, being in solidarity and partnership with the society will let them reap the benefits of their efforts.
The longer I live in
Samin Malik has a MA in Middle Eastern Politics from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in the UK and is a Program Coordinator at Tomorrow’s Youth Organization in Nablus, Palestine.
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