On October 14, MIFTAH held a meeting for the steering committee in support of women’s and youth representation in PLO institutions. The participants discussed the most prominent practical interventions recommended in a study prepared by MIFTAH on the obstacles to women and youth leaders advancing to decision-making positions in the Palestinian political system, the PLO in particular.

The attendees concluded their discussions by deciding to draft a memo expressing the steering committee’s demand for guaranteed fair representation of youth and women, which is also mentioned in the youth political document. They called for representation of these sectors not to fall beneath 30% in elections within PLO institutions and bodies. They also called for the demand to be conveyed to the secretary generals of factions and parties and put on the agenda of their meeting, scheduled for next month.

The participants stressed on the need to begin preparations for a meeting that would include members of the steering committee, the executive committee of the General Union of Palestinian Students and youth representatives in factions in order to devise an action plan to revive GUPS and organize a conference.

In turn, MIFTAH project coordinator Hassan Mahareeq said the meeting was part of the organization’s efforts to “promote national efforts to press for fair representation for women and youth at the decision-making level in the Palestinian political system”. He said MIFTAH advocates for this through its interventions, which are implemented in partnership with the Euro-Mediterranean Women’s Foundation, with the goal of developing public policies to guarantee the representation of these two sectors at the decision-making levels.