Areas of work and programmes - Palestine
Key projects and programmes that support the three impact areas of UN Women in the State of Palestine are as below:
Impact area 1: Women have income security, decent work and economic autonomy
Promoting Women's Equal Access to Economic Opportunities and Decent Work in Palestine
A 2-year programme, implemented jointly with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), which aims to enhance women’s decent work opportunities through strengthening entrepreneurial skills and economic opportunities for women and enhancing the protection of women’s labour rights through reinforcement of equitable laws, legislations and policies, while engaging public, private and community actors.
Impact area 2: Women and girls live a life free of violence
Men and Women for Gender Equality
A 4-year regional programme funded by Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), which aims at understanding the root causes of gender inequalities through interventions focusing on evidence-based advocacy for policy change; capacity building of civil society organizations as well as youth groups; developing community-based solutions to promote gender equality using innovative approaches and south-south exchange.
A Holistic Approach to Sheltering Services for Women Victims and Survivors of Violence in Palestine
A 2-year programme funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), which aims at providing support to centres and shelters for survivors of violence against women (VAW), through various interventions that are designed to improve access to services and increase knowledge of violence issues, including changing attitudes and behaviors towards gender-based violence.
HAYA Joint Programme: Eliminating Violence Against Women in the West Bank and Gaza Strip
A 5-year programme implemented jointly by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN–Habitat), and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) funded by the Government of Canada, which aims at eliminating violence against women and girls through various outreach and awareness-raising activities to change harmful practices and attitudes perpetrating and validating violence, increase access to necessary services such as livelihood training, forensics, medical, and psychosocial treatment, and access to security and shelter for survivors of violence, as well as strengthen the institutional capacity of government officials to develop and implement legal and policy frameworks promoting and protecting women’s and girl’s rights to live free from violence.
Sawasya II, Rule of Law Joint Programme in the State of Palestine
A 3-year programme implemented jointly with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) funded by the Government of Netherlands, the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), which aims to strengthen the capacities of, and public confidence in, rule of law institutions and to improve access to justice, security and protection services, with focus on women and girls. Key activities include improving service delivery and building resilient justice and security institutions, while working towards improving the public’s ability to access such services and hold duty-bearers to account at the same time.
Impact area 3: Women lead, participate in and benefit from peace and security, humanitarian action and recovery efforts in Palestine
Utilizing Digital Tools to Promote Human Rights and Create Inclusive Public Spaces in Gaza Strip
A 1-year programme implemented jointly with UN Habitat and funded by the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium, which aims to advance women and youth’s rights to participate in reconstruction and recovery efforts in Gaza, through supporting the design and implementation of three inclusive, safe and accessible public spaces through the utilization of digital technologies.
Protection, Response and Preparedness to Address Needs of Disabled and Vulnerable Women in Gaza
A 1-year programme funded by the Government of Japan, which aims at assisting and mobilizing women who are most vulnerable in Gaza through improving their accessibility to specialized services such as case management for gender-based violence, psychosocial support, legal assistance, and referral services. In addition, income-generating activities for vulnerable women and capacity building activities for civil society organizations to strengthen their ability to address gender priorities will be provided.
Cross-thematic Projects:
CEDAW Palestine
A 2-year programme funded by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and the Government of Iceland, which aims at supporting the CEDAW reporting and implementation process, utilizing a harmonized and multi-sectoral human rights approach through the provision of technical assistance to the government and CSOs, resulting in the preparation and submission of the State of Palestine Initial Report to CEDAW and the first ever Shadow Report to the CEDAW Committee.
Enhancing the implementation of the Cross Sectoral National Gender Strategy 2017-2022
A 2-year programme in support of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs funded by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and the Government of Iceland, which aims at strengthening the national capacity and accountability to enhance national commitments on gender equality and women’s empowerment through creating an enabling environment for the implementation of the Cross Sectoral National Gender Strategy (CSNGS).