The empowerment
of women is one of
the central issues
currently facing
Palestinian society,as we continue our struggle
towards statehood. Since the
establishment of the Palestinian
National Authority (PNA) Ministry
of Women's Affairs, our collective
responsibility towards ensuring
women's social, economic
and political rights have
been highlighted and
brought to the fore. It
is imperative that this
fundamental dialogue
continues and develops,
and that appropriate and
just legislation and action
is implemented, to enhance
the commitment and responsibility
of the government towards
women's rights.Following calls from civil society,
the government and sectors of
Palestinian society, the PNA
Ministry of Women's Affairs was
established in 2004, with support
from UNDP/PAPP. At this time
the Ministry's main vision wasdefined as "Empowering and
supporting Palestinian women to
actively participate in building
and developing a democratic
Palestinian state." Our objectives
were to focus on the government's
commitment to the mainstreaming
and inclusion of gender and
human rights issues into the
policies and planning at the
ministerial and legislative level. In addition, we sought to work
to back-up the development
of policies and legislation,
with advocacy and outreach
campaigns, as well as
consolidate the Ministry's links
with Palestinian civil society,
particularly organisations
working in the eld of women's
rights at the local, regional and
international levels. Through consultations with
Palestinian civil society and
the broader community, it was
determined that the Ministry of
Women's Affairs would focus on
three main target groups: young,
poverty stricken women; women
and vocational training; and
women in decision making.The resulting development of
a three-year strategic plan was
unprecedented in the occupied
Palestinian territory (oPt). For the
rst time, a governmental plan
based solely on the promotion
of women's rights and aimed at
tackling the multitude of issues
facing Palestinian women, was
being aggressively pursued. To
date, several laws have been
revised or created with a more
gender-sensitized approach,
including aspects of civil servant
law, family law, penal law, social
security law, labour law and heath
law. The Ministry's role is as a
vehicle between the government
and the public on women's
