Ramallah – 9/11/2022 – MIFTAH recently held a follow-up workshop for cadres at Al Istiqlal University in Jericho on the use a manual for PA security services on CEDAW and UN Resolution 1325. The workshop covered the manual’s concepts and performance, along with mechanisms and tools to ensure that information is properly conveyed to the audience.

The workshop is part of MIFTAH’s Good Governance and Democracy program, in cooperation and coordination with Al Istiqlal University and part of their mutual interests to enforce the law and promote the principles of democracy and human rights, on the basis of national laws and legislation. It is also part of MIFTAH’s efforts to promote Palestinian women’s participation in decision-making positions and efforts to guarantee their safety, protection and easy access to justice. This is in addition to contributing to the development of policies and procedures pertaining to case files of Palestinian women and girls, in light of sexual and compound violence-based discrimination stemming from patriarchal culture, the Israeli occupation and the internal rift. These policies and procedures are based on WPS references and legal frameworks to which the State of Palestine adheres.

MIFTAH believes it is imperative to continue these workshops and courses to increase knowledge among university students on international human rights conventions, including The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). It is also important to highlight the intersectionality of these conventions with national treaties and the Palestinian Basic Law. The trainings and workshops focus on opportunities to nationalize and commit to agreements and UN resolutions at the Palestinian level.

Dr. Kifah Manasra, lecturer at Istiqlal’s Faculty of Law, said MIFTAH’s training provided the trainees with crucial information and strengthened their capacity to analyze and defend human rights concepts and principles. She also pointed to how the training covered international conventions and linked them to national treaties and the Basic Law.

The trained cadres expressed their willingness to move forward with the dissemination of the human rights perspective and respect for public freedoms included in the conventions, Palestinian Basic Law and Declaration of Independence. They also pointed to the need for a plan to disseminate and implement conventions on human rights and anti-discrimination and respect for public freedoms.