WUNRN
PALESTINE - FABRIC OF OUR LIVES
DOLLS
The Fabric of Our Lives
Project is an advocacy project of Global Ministries’ partner, the YWCA of Palestine
in its Rights for Women for Peace, Security and Dignity program. The purposes
of the project are to raise awareness on the importance of refugee rights and
to support women’s livelihoods and their families. |
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World YWCA - http://www.worldywca.org/YWCA-News/World-YWCA-and-Member-Associations-News/The-Fabric-of-Our-Lives-Project
THE FABRIC OF OUR LIVES - PALESTINE DOLLS PROJECT
18/12/2013 -The Fabric of Our Lives Project is an advocacy project of
the YWCA of Palestine under the association’s Rights
for Women for Peace, Security and Dignity programme. Palestinian women and
young woman involved in the project have designed dolls made out of olive wood,
dressed beautifully in traditional Palestinian embroidered dresses. Suhair,
YWCA of Palestine Project worker shared, “The process began with listening to
stories from women who remember what happened in 1948. These stories are then
fleshed out with more details about their village both past and present. During
the interviews the women sometimes bring out embroidery they have done. Next we
designed a model dress based on real dresses worn during that time period in
the village.”
The
primary purpose of the project is to raise awareness on the importance of
refugee rights. The project provides tools for advocating for the Right of
Return and reparations as outlined in United Nations (UN) Resolutions 194 and
237. Its secondary purpose is to support women’s livelihoods and their
families.
As
part of the World YWCA’s commitment to peace with justice for all people, the
YWCA of Palestine is part of a global project led by the World YWCA and
supported by YGlobal Norway. This project focuses on UN Resolution 1325
(UNSCR1325) and is designed to target women, young women and girls affected by
conflict and post-conflict in Sri-Lanka, Southern Sudan and Palestine, through
joint capacity building. As a movement the World YWCA first adopted the UNSCR
1325 back in 2007 at the World YWCA Council in Nairobi and today violence
against women is one of the main priorities of the World YWCA.
The
YWCA of Palestine and the World YWCA seek to achieve peace with justice for all
people and the right to self-determination, freedom, and dignity, the full
implementation of all UN Resolutions, including the right of return for
Palestinian refugees and Palestinians living in exile.
The
YWCA of Palestine was one of the first organisations to provide services for
Palestinian refugees, even before the camps were established in 1948-49. At the
time of the establishment of the State of Israel, more than 750,000
Palestinians became refugees in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Syria, and
Lebanon; and more than 525 Palestinian towns and villages were destroyed.
For Palestinians, this period is known as al-Nakba (“the
catastrophe”). While some of the historic organisations that provided
relief for those refugees no longer exist today, the YWCA continues to work in
Jalazoune Refugee Camp (outside of Ramallah), and Aqbet Jaber Refugee Camp (on
the outskirts of Jericho) in addition to many other places in Palestine.
The
Fabric of Our Lives project seeks to shed light on the history of the Nakba
as well as on the ongoing Nakba, and forced displacement and
dispossession still taking place throughout Palestine, and the implications
that this has on communities, especially women and children.
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