Promoting Gender Equality in Humanitarian Action Project
Background:
"Promoting Gender Equality in Humanitarian Action Project" is funded by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation – AECID through UN Women. Our intervention was designed to increase the awareness of the needs of women and girls, particularly women and girls with disabilities, within the humanitarian context, and to produce additional data on their situation. Further, this project aimed at developing the capacities of women’s organizations to participate successfully in humanitarian interventions, and to advocate for women's rights and particularly the rights of women with disabilities. Counseling and legal services should be made available to address individual needs and to provide accessible information about rights and legal procedures. To reach a wider audience, public awareness activities were raised. Men and boys as major actors in the development of new and progressive gender roles were involved in the planned activities. Through inclusive workshops, women shared their experiences and the challenges they face in humanitarian crises. Barriers ere detected and good examples documented. The information gathered are available to the public in accessible formats and serve as a basis for inclusive planning of humanitarian actions in the future.
Project objective:
To improve access for women, girls including those with disabilities, to humanitarian aid as direct and equal beneficiaries, while the project purpose is to enhance the capacity of women and women with disabilities in Battir and Al-Walajah to access and participate in humanitarian action / coordination platforms.
Target Group:
- Females with disabilities in Battir & AL-Walajah Villages in Bethlehem Governorate.
- Battir & Al-Walajah communities.
Project activities and outputs:
- A specialized training sessions about Women’s Rights, Gender Equality, Disability Inclusion, Advocacy, and Participatory Rapid Appraisal (PRA) was conducted, to enhance the capacity of 30 women and women with disabilities to advocate for gender equality within a humanitarian context.
- A participatory research on the status and needs of women, girls including those with disabilities in Battir and AL-Walaja was conducted. The research was conducted by QADER’s team and the women from both villages.
- 7 women received individual psychosocial counselling.
- 6 awareness workshops were conducted on the rights of women with disabilities within a humanitarian context.
- Developed and distributed an easy-to read version of CEDAW convention among the participants in the awareness workshops, municipality, village council and women CBO’s in both communities.