Gender Intervention/Community Involvement; Academic Exchange

 

 

The Institute has effectively initiated different gender interventions through both individual and institutional participation in various activities like forums, workshops and academic panels. In addition, the Institute has been able to promote gender intervention activities in the form of research projects, training, and consultations that have policy implications and produce meaningful interventions for the welfare and development of Palestinian women, men and children.

 

Interventions initiated or participated in by Institute members have been geared toward both governmental and non-governmental sectors. In the first category are Palestinian Authority institutions such as the Ministries of Education, Planning, and Women’s Affairs. In the past year, for example, the Institute acted as a consultant to the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and undertook a study on women’s empowerment at the Ministry’s request.

 

Other interventions focus more on institutions within civil society, mainly women’s groups and organizations.  The Institute is represented on the Council of the Women’s Affairs Technical Committee, and works with a number of NGOs on poverty alleviation. Another form of community intervention consists of research projects initiated either by individual faculty members or commissioned by international or regional institutions.

 

In addition, faculty members have initiated different research projects with international organizations like the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), analyzing the impact of Israeli violation of human rights, including construction of the Separation Wall, and undertaking research that can promote better policies and strategies regarding women’s rights and women’s issues. We have realized from past experience that it is important to target interventions where they can be effective; and we use the Institute’s strengths, which are primarily in research and teaching, to enter public arenas.