• event women education palestine 2012

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eventlistLink: /projects/espacios-oe/event-eventlist

main page for wefp women event Link: /projects/wef-palestine-interlink-extend/wefp-women-2012-main

eventlistLink: /projects/espacios-oe/event-eventlist


plan

Feminist Social Educational Palestinian Forum

Background:

The Palestinian feminist movement continues its struggle to defeat the occupation, alongside continuing a social struggle seeking to develop policies and laws that respect women and their freedom, such that local Palestinian laws become compatible with international conventions regarding women’s rights and human rights. This movement also seeks to determine spaces of true partnerships and cooperative development of the Palestinian life, integrate women in this developmental process and establish new developmental directions based on activating the role of women.

However, a number of obstacles continue to face this struggle; researcher Dr. Islah Jad (2006) points out the most important obstacles to integrate women in the developmental process are the separation of women’s issues from the mainstream of developmental projects. Because of this, the Palestinian feminist movement gives the priority to organize and activate women’s political role, considering this accomplishment a beginning to activate the role of women. It is no secret that the Palestinian political and public life has declined during the last decade due to a number of reasons, including the siege enforced by the occupation and the internal division. It is known that in such circumstances, marginalized groups are further marginalized, such that the burdens imposed on women increase and denial of contribution in economic and social life.

The Palestinian society still faces numerous challenges in women education; while women constitute half of the Palestinian society in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, such that statistics demonstrate that out of the 4.2 million individuals at the end of 2011, 50.8% (2.2 million) are males while 49.2% (2.0 million) are females; albeit of this women education is still facing challenges, such that illiteracy rates among females is 3.5 times as much as males (2.1% among males and 7.4% among females) in the year 2011. On another hand, women percentages with a 2-year diploma or higher reached only 17% in the year 2011.

This reality has major repercussions on the right of women to work and participate in the labour market; despite the increase in the percentage of participating women in the labour market during the past ten years, the percentages are still poor, such that only 16.6% of those participating in the labour market were women in the year 2011; thus, male percentages compared with women percentages take on a 4:1 gap. Additionally, the gap in daily salaries between men and women is still prevalent, such that women daily salary comprises 84% of the male salary of the same position in 2011.

Despite that women labour participation is considered to be an important developmental requirement in the holistic and sustainable development process, unemployment rates are still high among women, reaching 28.4% in 2011. It is worth mentioning that unemployment rates were the highest among women with 13 years of education and higher, reaching 38.8% in 2011.

Concerning women participation in public life, 13.2% of the legislative council members in the year 2010 were women; it is worth noting that representation of women from Gaza in the legislative councils surpasses of that from the West Bank (14.9% and 12.1% respectively). With regards to jurisdiction, 11.3% of judges are females and the percentages are somewhat close between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (12% and 10% approximately respectively). Additionally, only 10% of chief editors in Palestine are women, in comparison with 90% men.

These findings and statistics have implications regarding the challenges and difficulties Palestinian women face, which also face the feminist movement and the Palestinian society as a whole; and since the burden on the Palestinian feminist movement, comprising Palestinian feminist organizations, is constantly on the rise it is necessary to establish joint mobility that would bring about a social educational feminist movement; and since we are discussing the integration of women in the developmental process, it is necessary to focus on one of most important pillars of development: education. The importance of focusing on education comes from the necessity of mainstreaming women rights and issues in the educational curriculum and the educational system as a whole.

Project Summary:

In continuation with the organization of an international educational forum in Palestine, represented in integrating all sectors of the Palestinian society in a state of advancing the educational process, and with the aim of establishing public mobility towards forming a social, educational and popular movement to endorse the educational system, such that it is reformed by integrating human rights and democracy concepts, enhancing status of women in the educational system and ensuring gender equity in decision making, participation and opportunities. In this context, a serious and deep discussion occurred between Palestinian feminist organizations and the member organizations in the national committee in the Joussour Project about the necessity of employing the results of the World Educational Forum, and complete the efforts made to culminate in convening a Palestinian social, feminist, educational forum.

The idea of the forum emerged from the active role that feminist organizations played in the national committee of the World Educational Forum in Palestine, in addition to the networking between Palestinian feminist organizations and Arab and International organizations, culminating in implementing a large sum of activities using technology and visual communication programs;the discussion continued and matured to establish the Palestinian feminist educational forum, with the aim of establishing continuous mobility by feminist organizations to work towards integrating women’s issues in the Palestinian educational system, and prepare them to mainstream gender in development projects, expand the network with regional and international organizations to exchange experience and expand the mobility circle to elevate it to regional and international standards.


General Goal of the Project:

Activate the role of the feminist movement towards achieving the goals of Education for All.

Specific Goals of the Project:

  • 1)Enhance the role and representation of feminist organizations in lobbying and impacting educational policies in Palestine to integrate women’s issues effectively in the Palestinian formal and non-formal /informal educational system including Life Long Learning approaches and in the development programs.
  • 2)Activate networking between Palestinian feminist organizations on one hand, and international and regional feminist organizations on another hand, particularly in regards to education.
  • 3)Enhance cooperation between feminist organizations and feminist activists around the world to activate the use of Technologic Information and Communication system (TIC) and dialogue.
  • 4)Enhance the role of youth in the Palestinian feminist movement.
  • 5)Mainstream successful community experiences.

Expected Results of the Project:

  • 1)Develop a national strategy to ensure the integration of women’s issues in the formal and informal education system
  • 2)Adopt strategies to accomplish developmental goals in formal and informal education activities, including Life Long learning approaches and enhancing women’s human rights in the Palestinian curriculum.
  • 3)Holding a Palestinian educational feminist forum with vast participation of the civil society, feminist movement, politicians, decision-makers and international feminist activists.
  • 4)Lay down groundwork to establish first educational feminist social movement in Palestine.
  • 5)Formulation of clear vision concerning relationship between education as a human rights, sustainable development and women’s issues.
  • 6)Activate networking between Palestinian feminist organizations and educational organizations on the local Palestinian level.
  • 7)Enhance networking between the cores of the Palestinian social feminist educational forum and Arabic and International social forums.
  • 8)Develop strategies to ensure the convening of a Palestinian feminist educational forum periodically.
  • 9)Ensure active feminist participation in the Global Campaign for Education in Palestine.

Implementation Methodology of the Project:

Major activities to be implemented within the project:

The project is divided into several stages as follows:

First: Preparation Stage:

  • 1)Establishment of a national committee to convene the forum, with its backbone the committee of Joussour Project in addition to a number of other feminist and educational organizations. The committee will draw the policies and develop strategies and a road map of work plans to implement the convention of the Palestinian educational social feminist forum.
  • 2)Holding two conferences, in the West Bank and the the Gaza Strip, to discuss women and formal and non-formal/ informal educational issues including Life Long learning approaches
  • 3)Establish subsidiary work committees to follow up the convening of the forum.
  • 4)Start a media campaign to advertise for the idea of the forum in Palestinian press.
  • 5)Hold workshops with different sectors and lobby local and national authorities to introduce the forum.
  • 6)Production a pamphlet with articles related to discussion topics in the forum.
  • 7)Production of a poster about idea of the forum.

Second: Implementation Stage:

  • The forum will be held over the period of three consecutive days during November, where there would be numerous implemented activities as follows:
  • 1)Morning central activities, including conferences to discuss major themes of the forum.
  • 2)Organizations specific activities.
  • 3)Night cultural activities for organizations and individuals. Preference will be given to youth organizations.
  • 4)Expanded activities via visual communication technology.
  • 5)Feminist products bazaar- concurrently with forum days.
  • 6)Produce a short documentary film about the experience of the Palestinian feminist educational forum in Arabic and English.
  • 7)Produce a brochure at the end of the forum presenting the results of the discussions in the forum.
  • 8)Publish all produced literature on the E-Joussour website.
  • 9)Produce a televised seminar discussing themes of the forum to be aired on Mix TV.
  • 10)Produce a radio episode discussing themes of the forum to be aired on local radio shows.
  • 11)Publish media reports via Palestinian media.

Themes of the Forum:

1)Education as a human right anda Tool to Liberate Women:

This theme could contain a number of subtitles related to education as a human right and its mechanism of employing education, as to serve the liberation of women nationally and socially; in this context, workshops could be organized and research paperswill be producingon such subjects ) could be drawn up discussing experience, role of women in political life and mechanisms of enhancement, role of women in popular education and presentation of women’s issues in the Palestinian curriculum, among other subjects.

2)Equality in Education:

This theme focuses on gender equity in the Palestinian educational system, and extent of harmony between the discourse and practice equality-wise; this theme could include: perception of the society towards relationship between women and education, percentages of males and females enrolled in middle and higher education, presentation of women in the Palestinian curriculum, whether stereotypes are still prevalent in curricula, gender and education, women, imprisonment and education...etc.

3)Education and Women’s issues: Future Perspectives:

This theme handles prospects of development of Palestinian women on the educational level, and could include educational theories related to the status of women in education and degree of relation of this to Palestinian women, mechanisms to advance status of Palestinian women education-wise and curricula that could achieve this purpose.

4- Another issuecould also be topresent the educational situation ofPalestinian rural women , its constrainin access to education, employment , health , how educationcan play a difference…..

Organizer of the Forum:

National Committee of Joussour Network.(a group of women and union organisation as well as education organisation