Ramallah – September 20: The Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development (PWWSD) published a study Tuesday titled “Palestinian Women’s Participation in Local Government: Evaluating Experiences and Future Implications”, in collaboration with GIZ in Ramallah.
In attendance was PWWSD Director General Amal Khreisheh, Palestinian National Council member Reema Nazzal, General Secretariat of the General Union of Palestinian Women, GIZ representative Hiba Tijani, Arab World for Research and Development Director General Nader Saeed, a number of former councilwomen and local election candidates, as well as support committees for women in local government.
PWWSD Tulkarim Coordinator, Maali Barqawi opened the session by noting that this study comes at a time of political and social mobilization for holding local council elections. A venue for practicing democracy and paving the way for women to practice their right to political participation, as well as searching for lessons learned from past experiences examined and built on by the study.
Barqawi added that the study highlighted and analyzed the reality of Palestinian women’s participation in local councils, as well as evaluating practices and techniques to increase women’ active participation, and encouraging women’s organizations and relevant institutions to develop and strengthen this participation.
The study also aimed to evaluate local government policies, the performance of community organizations working to strengthen women’s participation in local government, raising community awareness, political parties’ role in women’s political participation, and encouraging women to participate in local government. The study highlights the main achievements and challenges and provides suggestions and recommendations for techniques to increase women’s participation in local government, by strengthening the democratic process of elections.
Amal Khreisheh said that this study will be the start of a roadmap towards dealing with many critical issues. The study establishes the foundations for observing developments and setbacks in the election process. Khreisheh emphasized the significance of women’s political participation in deepening the roots of democracy, and the importance of holding periodic elections away from any weak excuses to postpone them.
Nader Saeed noted that the study analyzed the reality of women’s participation in the work of local governing bodies, as well as the practices and techniques followed in the last 4 years to develop women’s work, in addition to examining the current policies, community environment, challenges, and achievements.
Hiba Tijani talked about the program “Strengthening women in decision-making in the Middle East”, and that it came about to empower councilwomen following the 2012-2013 elections. Based on its success, it was then expanded to neighboring countries.
Tijani added, “We aspire to work with elected councilwomen in the upcoming elections.” She noted that when establishing the regional program, it was critical to evaluate the experiences of CSOs and government institutions supporting women in local government. Thus the collaboration with PWWSD to work on this important research.
Reema Nazzal gave a preliminary reading of women in electoral lists. With 860 lists running for membership of 416 local councils, 182 lists were selected by acclamation. Those constituted 78% of lists in Tubas and Jerusalem, 33% of lists in Tulkarim and Salfit, 71% of lists in Jericho, 52% of lists in Ramallah and al-Bireh, 43% of lists in Nablus, and 41% of lists in Hebron.
Nazzal added that eight electoral lists are headed by women including the all-woman list, with one list running in Gaza and seven in the West Bank. This indicates a Palestinian recognition that there are powerful women leaders who have proved themselves in the community.