PSCCW opened on Wednesday 12/28/2022 a safe space in the village of Hajja- Qalqilya, in cooperation with the Governor of Qalqilya Governorate, Major General Rafi Rawajbeh, and the Minister of Women’s Affairs, Dr. Amal Hamad, in partnership with the Hajjah Village Council and the Development Association for women, within the Project “Localized nexus Strategy for the integrated protection of the rights and dignity of the Palestinian Population under occupation in accordance with IHL and IHRL and against COVID-19, are it’s especial emphasis on gender equality, Child protection an DRR” funded by the Government of the Cantabria region”Asemblea de Cooperción por la Paz” through the Spanish Foundation for Peace Cooperation.
The activities began with welcoming the attendees, as the celebration included a couple of speeches by PSCCW and official and civil institutions, who praised the importance of the role of Palestinian women in building a strong and solid society, by enabling them to face the surrounding societal difficulties and challenges. In its speech, PSCCW also stressed the importance of joint work between all institutions and unifying efforts to advance the status of women in Palestinian society.
The ceremony included several activities for schools in Hajja, which included creational shows and discussions regarding PSCCWs services and its impact on the local community.
PSCCW has been working in the governorates of Salfit and Qalqilya for more than five years within the framework of the joint action strategy (the Working Group for Humanitarian Response), which includes all from The Palestinian Agricultural Relief Society, the Palestinian Hydrologists Group, and the Cooperation for Peace Foundation, which work together permanently to provide integrated services through the implementation of projects that focus on strengthening the steadfastness of the residents of these areas on their lands.
The importance of opening this space, which is one of the five spaces established by PSCCW in the governorates of Qalqilya and Salfit, comes with the aim of finding a safe place for women who suffer from psychological, social and economic pressures, resulting from the fact that these areas are surrounded by Israeli settlements and are constantly exposed to violations by settlers and the occupation army, which is represented by the confiscation of lands, continuous incursions, and exposure of the villagers to various means of harm and violation.
It is worth noting that these spaces will be a safe place for women, within which various activities will be carried out under the supervision of experienced and competent psychologists and social workers, with the aim of empowering women psychologically, socially and economically, as during the next phase there will be a set of activities that will be implemented within the space. Safe, which is represented by providing individual and group mental health services, raising awareness, in addition to building women’s skills in manual work that will contribute to improving their economic reality.
The students Younis Jaafara and Maryam Al-Maghrabi won cash prizes for the two best media productions, in which raise the issue of positive masculinity, that is after receiving a 2-day training, with a total of 10 training hours, that aims of building the capacities of the participants on the issue of integrating men into promoting positive masculinity and positive fatherhood as one of the effective tools in reducing gender-based violence.
The ceremony concluded with the distribution of certificates to the students who participated in the training, and then the two winning initiatives were presented to the audience.
This activity comes within the project:” Life-Saving GBV Response” project, implemented in partnership between the Psychosocial Counseling Center for Women (PSCCW) and the Palestinian Family Planning and Protection Association (PFPPA) funded by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) with the support of the Belgium government”.