REFORM and the Ministry of Women's Affairs launch the National Feminist Policy to strengthen the resilience of Palestinian women

Ramallah - Ofoq News - REFORM Foundation, in partnership with the Ministry of Women's Affairs, launched the National Feminist Policy to enhance the steadfastness of Palestinian women in the context of occupation, as a comprehensive national framework aimed at enhancing the rights of Palestinian women and consolidating social justice, by addressing the existing structural and social barriers against women.

This policy comes in an exceptional national context characterized by the continuation of the Israeli occupation and its structural repercussions on the reality of Palestinian women, including complex patterns of violence, restriction of rights, and undermining of livelihoods. This policy is also based on an integrated national vision for feminist work that organically links the internal and external dimensions. National feminist politics in the Palestinian context cannot be separated from the reality of the occupation and its racist policies, or from the structural challenges within Palestinian society. Therefore, the external feminist discourse derives its legitimacy and strength from the experience of women inside, from their daily struggle in the face of discrimination, violence, and exclusion, and from their partnership in the struggle and construction to reach the Palestinian state.

The policy was launched during a meeting that brought together representatives of male and female governmental, national, and civil institutions, a number of international institutions, representatives of a number of foreign embassies, and civil society organizations, along with male and female experts, feminist activists, and partners from various sectors.

Her Excellency the Minister of Women’s Affairs, Professor Mona Al-Khalili, stressed that the importance of the national feminist policy lies in it being a framework for joint national action, which goes beyond diagnosing the challenges facing Palestinian women towards developing implementable interventions and policies, monitoring and evaluation. She pointed out that enhancing women's resilience should not be limited to their ability to withstand crises, but rather requires providing an institutional and legislative environment that guarantees and protects their rights, enhances their access to resources, services and opportunities, and their effective participation in decision-making. She also stressed the importance of integration between protection, empowerment and international advocacy, and the necessity of transforming policy directions into practical programs supported by budgets and accountability mechanisms, in partnership with civil society institutions and the feminist movement.

For his part, Mr. Hassan Mahareq, a member of the Foundation’s Board of Directors, stressed that the main challenge lies not only in formulating discourses and commitments related to women’s rights, but in translating them into tangible change in the reality of Palestinian women, pointing out that women’s status is measured by their actual ability to participate, influence, and reach decision-making positions, justice, services, and economic opportunities, and not merely by their presence in national documents and strategies.

Mahariq stressed the need to deal with the axes of national feminist policy as interconnected issues, in which economic empowerment cannot be separated from political participation, or access to justice and services from the role of women in building civil peace and preventing conflicts.

Emphasizing that this policy comes within the general national policies that were developed under the umbrella of the Ministry of Women's Affairs as the official reference and leadership body in gender issues. The launch of this policy also comes in the context of the Basic Law “the Constitution” and the relevant national, regional and international references.

In turn, the Foundation's public policy advisor, Jihad Harb, reviewed the foundations of the national feminist policy, its priorities, and the interventions proposed within it, explaining that it is based on a transformative vision based on three integrated levels, which include enhancing the protection and empowerment of women, developing institutional policies and practices, and creating a transformation in the cultural and societal structures that affect women's rights and opportunities for their participation.

The meeting included a discussion with the participation of Dr. Hanna Nakhleh, Advisor to His Excellency the Minister of Women, which focused on the importance of working on the applied side of politics and creating local and international partnerships and integrative partnerships between local and international, in a way that enhances the effectiveness of national development processes from a feminist perspective, and makes women makers of a liberal vision in the face of the occupation, and partners in building public policies based on social justice that express their needs and aspirations, and establish a more responsive and equitable social reality for Palestinian women.

The meeting concluded by emphasizing the importance of continuing joint work between the REFORM Foundation, the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, and various national partners, and working within a national liberation and development framework that aims to strengthen the steadfastness of Palestinian women, guarantee their rights in the context of occupation, and enable them to fully participate in development and decision-making paths. This policy is implemented through a national participatory framework led by the Ministry of Women's Affairs in partnership with governmental and non-governmental agencies and development partners.