Ramallah – CEO of MIFTAH, Dr. Lily Feidy confirmed that MIFTAH would continue to support efforts by coalitions to implement UN Resolution 1325, which calls for women’s participation in decision-making bodies for peace and security in general and in areas of armed conflict in particular.
On the occasion of 13 years since Resolution 1325 was issued, Feidy said MIFTAH had committed to working on the resolution and that procedures were needed and efforts made by civil society organizations to guarantee the protection of women and girls in the Palestinian territories. “Thirteen years after the resolution was issued, MIFTAH still supports and follows up with the 1325 coalitions in the Nablus and Hebron districts along with the Jericho and Jordan Valley district where we began working at the start of 2011. These coalitions are comprised of civil society organizations within MIFTAH’s project “Gender, Peace and Security” funded by UNFPA. The project stems from the belief that it is necessary to join social and community forces to achieve justice for the Palestinians through awareness and education about this resolution. This could contribute, along with UN resolutions pertaining to the Palestinian cause, to bringing justice to the Palestinian people. “All of the literature published by MIFTAH in this regard can be found at the organization itself or on accessed via its website,” Feidy added.
Director of MIFTAH’s “Protection and equality project from a gender perspective”, Najwa Yaghi said: “Right now, we need the formulation of a national plan to implement this UN resolution to guarantee the participation of women in politics and protect them from human rights violations.” Yaghi pointed out that MIFTAH was the primary initiator for the many activities and training sessions, for explaining about this resolution and for the publication of many booklets on this subject; MIFTAH also formed the coalitions and supported the pressure and advocacy campaign in all of the regions to demand and expedite the implementation of this resolution, which overlaps with the agenda of the Palestinian women’s movement in that it merges between the demands for national liberation and the need of women to achieve comprehensive and just peace and between the requirements and needs of women for social advancement and rights, all of which work towards reinforcing the values of democracy and equality.” Yaghi also said that MIFTAH is currently working on developing a questionnaire to document human rights violation against women within Resolution 1325.
Yaghi explained that since MIFTAH began implementing its plan pertaining to the enactment of the resolution in 2006 until now, it has succeeded in building the capacities of a number of organizations and coalitions with local decision-makers. It has also been able to connect with international organizations working in the field of human rights such as OCHA and OHCHR in addition to offering support in the field of capacity-building for organizations and institutions on documenting human rights violations. These violations against women and girls were documented in Bedouin communities in Hebron and the Jordan Valley in addition to places in Area C of the West Bank. Discussions were held with government institutions on the need for policies that support the protection of women and girls in these areas. Yaghi said MIFTAH’s role was not confined to training and organizing courses for organizations and their staff, and supporting media campaigns to promote the resolution, but it was also able to create pressure and advocacy groups within many of these institutions and coalitions in Hebron, Nablus and other Palestinian cities.
In terms publications on the subject, the most outstanding of them was put together by expert Rima Nazzal for a project funded by MIFTAH and supported by UNFPA. The publication includes important definitions and explanations about the role of the UN in supporting women’s efforts and also the reality of Palestinian women, who have been the direct victims of the Israeli occupation. Furthermore, it addresses the importance of the resolution at the Palestinian level, its points of weakness and the problems and obstacles facing the implementation of this resolution in Palestine. Another important publication was the guidebook prepared by Nazzal with support from the Austrian Representative Office.
Nazzal says in her guidebook, entitled “Palestinian Women and Resolution 1325” that in order to mainstream and institutionalize this resolution in Palestine, the Palestinian women’s movement must link it through tools used in political and media discourse, to international resolutions which have a direct political dimension; the movement must also demand the implementation of all international resolutions pertaining to the Palestinian cause alongside Resolution 1325.
Nazzal says that in order to utilize the resolution for the sake of Palestinian women’s needs, this requires a comprehensive national plan at the national and social levels, and at the internal and external levels as well to ultimately address all aspects of a Palestinian national plan on the basis of Resolution 1325.
In this regard, Yaghi maintains that MIFTAH built the foundation for an infrastructure to launch the implementation of 1325. In this way, the organizations and coalitions that endorsed it would only have to move forward with their projects to achieve this purpose, which MIFTAH would also continue to support.
A special publication issued by MIFTAH includes mechanisms for which to enact 1325 at three levels: women, politics and at the level of the reconciliation. It documents attacks on Palestinian women including their murder, displacement, uprooting for the sake of settlements, to births at checkpoints and deaths because of the siege. The booklet addresses organizing media campaigns to shed light on the conditions of female prisoners, the demand for their release and the work needed to reintegrate them and rehabilitate them in society. It includes the impact of the occupation and settlements on women’s and children’s health and the environment and also women’s participation at the level of the political process and state building. Furthermore, it addresses the need to pressure decision-makers to pass laws that provide protection for women against social violence in all its forms and the need for organizing media campaigns demanding justice for women.
MIFTAH also released another publication that documented the initiatives taken by 1325 coalitions, including MIFTAH’s experience in putting the UN Resolution on the agenda of member institutions, in addition to its success in bringing together various sectors of society in interacting with Palestinian women’s issues.
MIFTAH was granted a Special Consultative Status with the United Nations' ECOSOC
Date posted: September 28, 2020
By MIFTAH
The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy- MIFTAH was granted a special consultative status to work with the United Nations’ Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), through which MIFTAH seeks to contribute to promoting the Palestinian narrative and international advocacy based on international legitimacy and United Nations resolutions related to the Palestinian cause.
The ECOSOC is the principal organ that coordinates the economic, social, environmental and related work of the 14 United Nations specialized agencies, functional commissions and five regional commissions. It serves as the central forum for discussing international economic, and social and environmental issues, and for formulating policy recommendations addressed to Member States and the United Nations system.
ECOSOC provides NGOs the opportunity to be heard by a truly global audience and contribute to its agenda. ECOSOC has been the main entry point into the UN system for NGOs. ECOSOC remains the only main UN body with a formal framework for NGO participation
What is Consultative Status?
Consultative Status is an accreditation framework that benefits both the United Nations and the NGOs. Consultative arrangements are to be made, on the one hand, for the purpose of enabling the Council or one of its bodies to secure expert information or advice from organizations having special competence in the subjects for which consultative arrangements are made, and, on the other hand, to enable international, regional, sub-regional and national organizations that represent important elements of public opinion to express their views according to ECOSOC resolution 1996/31, part II, paragraph 20.
NGOs with Consultative Status can work with the United Nations Secretariat, programmes, funds and agencies in various ways, including in consultation with Member States. They can also contribute to a number of activities including information dissemination, awareness raising, development education, policy advocacy, joint operational projects, participation in intergovernmental processes and in the contribution of services and technical expertise
An NGO with consultative status can attend international conferences and events, make written and oral statements at these events, organize side events, enter United Nations premises, and have opportunities to network and lobby.
MIFTAH considers obtaining this Consultative Status timely and paramount to begin organizing its participation through the Council's sessions during 2021.
Signing ceremony for new cooperation agreement between MIFTAH and the Norwegian Representative Office
Date posted: November 28, 2019
By MIFTAH
Ramallah – MIFTAH and the Norwegian Representative Office to the PA signed on Monday, November 26 a new one-year cooperation agreement in a ceremony held in Ramallah.
Head of the Board of Directors, Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, signed on behalf of MIFTAH while Norwegian representative, Ms. Hilde Haralstad signed on behalf of the Norwegian Representative Office.
During her speech at the signing, Dr. Ashrawi said, "For the past 18 years the Norwegian Representative Office has been one of the oldest and most significant of MIFTAH's supporters in its efforts towards promoting the principles of democracy and good governance in Palestine”. She also said this support was a continuation of the crucial work at this stage in supporting and empowering young leaders and women as change-makers, saying it gives this sector the ability to influence and change, especially in light of the difficult circumstances and challenges of the current political stage. Ashrawi also reiterated the importance of collective efforts in a coordinated and holistic manner between the various parties, which inevitably lead to change.
Dr. Ashrawi reaffirmed the Norwegian support for the Palestinian cause, expressing hope that Norway and other likeminded countries continue to stand on the right side of human rights and good governance and recognize the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, freedom, justice and statehood. She concluded her speech by expressing sadness for Ms. Haralstad's departure from Palestine, where she has served since 2016.
Meanwhile, Ms. Haralstad confirmed Norway's continued support for Palestine in its quest for statehood and human rights. She said she was proud to have partnered with an institution that supports the principles of democracy and good governance and which works for women's and youth issues such as MIFTAH. She also stressed on the important role Palestinian civil society institutions play in supporting the Women's Peace and Security agenda and expressed her sadness for leaving Palestine, saying she would continue to support the Palestinian cause.
The signing was attended by women's and rights institutions in addition to MIFTAH board members, representatives from the General Union of Palestinian Women and representatives from other MIFTAH funders and partners.
