The Impact of Current Situation on Women Protection in the Gaza Strip
Published on Mon, 2019-07-15 11:43
PNGO Network, Social Watch member in Palestine, issued a paper entitled “The Impact of Current Situation on Women Protection in the Gaza Strip” The paper highlights the effect of the protracted crises in the Gaza Strip on women who become shock-absorbers during crisis. Also, it illustrates the key barriers impede the work of national women organizations to intervene in women protection and addresses the required steps from varies parties to achieve women protection in Gaza. Read the paper here (pdf version). Source: PNGO Network.
The Impact of Current Situation on Women Protection in the Gaza Strip Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (PNGO) Background The humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip is sharply deteriorating; successive Israeli military attacks, 13 years of Israeli blockade and internal political division, poverty, unemployment, power shortages, poor drinking water, food insecurity, fuel shortages, weak infrastructure, delayed reconstruction processes, and the PA employees salary crisis/cuts; all these protracted crises overburdened with massive casualties from the ongoing “Great March of Return” demonstrations, resulting in a protection crisis and psychosocial stress contributed to erode coping mechanisms and resilience of Gazan. According to Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO 2019), 52000 people are in need of mental and psychosocial health as a result of Gaza ongoing tension. These unrelenting intensity and duration of the extremely adverse conditions have affected the psychological well-being of the population in Gaza, however the impact on women are lager as they become more exposed to tension, depression and violence because they are considered the corner stone of the family and women often become shock-absorbers in the crisis. GCMHP1 reported that there is an increase in the level of anticipatory anxiety, especially among women and children. Women in Palestine face multiple layers of violence and discrimination, recent studies clearly show the negative impact of the blockade on women's conditions in the Gaza Strip. The blockade has resulted in severe restrictions on women's access to healthcare, including sexual and reproductive health, to realizing adequate living standards for themselves and their families, including shelter, water, electricity, and sanitation. Palestinian women are also subject to Israel's aggressive, and sometimes, lethal attacks against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Moreover, the protracted humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip and its impact has exacerbated Gender-Based Violence (GBV)2 in all its forms, including sexual violence, domestic violence and child marriage. UNFPA reported that more than 148,000 women are exposed to GBV in the Gaza Strip.3 According to PCBS, in 2011 only 0.7% of GBV survivors seek help due to the lack of confidential and compassionate services, and fear of stigma and reprisal. Women participated in the Great March of Return and were exposed to Israeli attacks. According to the latest report issued by the Ministry of Health 12 women were killed and 2,440 (7.5% of total injuries) were injured during the period March 2018 until mid-June 2019. The peaceful protests resulting in dozens of death and thousands of injuries causing lifetime disabilities and losing of head of the household. Losing the primary breadwinner of the family forms substantial burden on the family and especially the woman whereas the mother is required to meet all the needs of her family, including financial needs. Also, the consequences are harsher on injured women particularly for mothers as they are expected to continue fulfilling their home duties despite the injury. Furthermore, mothers bear the responsibility towards injured children by virtue of their reproductive role and thus they become more tired and stressful due to the recession and help they provide besides basic functions at home, compounding the burden on women.4 Key Barriers affecting Women NGOs Occupation policies: Israel exerts pressure on the civil society organizations. Israel has issued several laws that specifically targeted human rights groups and organizations that opposed the occupation. Israeli restrictive laws and policies affect Israeli and Palestinian civil society organizations, especially those operate in East Jerusalem. Additionally, there are increased incitement campaigns against specific non-governmental organizations, especially human rights organizations, by senior Israeli politicians. The accusations against a number of non-governmental organizations that operated in Gaza Strip in 2016 put them under the risk of not receiving necessary humanitarian aid. Lacks of funds: The deteriorating conditions in the Gaza Strip is exacerbated by significant shortfalls in donor support for the Palestinian Authority (PA), UNRWA, Non-Governmental Organizations and humanitarian operations in general, undermining the ability to effectively respond to increasing protection needs. Only 6 M$ of protection projects were funded out of 35.9 M$ required under the Humanitarian Response (16.7%). Non-Clarify of funding policy: Burdensome funding requirements, procedures and conditional funding are compounding the difficulty of some women NGOs in accessing funds and are increasing their workload. The competition among donors to provide support according to their own priorities and policies is complicating the work of these NGOs. The increased involvement of international NGOs in setting priorities and implementing programs threatens to marginalize Palestinian women NGOs in development work and confuses their priorities. The short-term, project-based nature of funding to NGOs is creating job insecurity and is making it difficult for women organizations to maintain their professional staff. Internal political division and the absence of effective Governance system: Government restrictions and imposing unfair laws and regulations on women NGOs continue to curtail their effectiveness. There has also been increasing tendency of both governments, in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, to control NGOs and specifically women NGOs to undermine their role in society. The Palestinian Authority and the de-facto authority of Gaza issued new measures to the Law of Charitable Associations and Community Organizations of 2000 that have increased the administrative burden for the civil society organizations especially women organizations, requiring more steps in the registration process, complex financial procedures, administrative obstacles to open and validate bank account or receiving and transferring funds. Massive needs, scarce resources and low level of coordination: The available resources are limited, the absence of a national plan to respond to emergencies and lack of coordination between organizations. In addition, the pace of events and the large number of people injured outstripped the capacity of organizations to respond to the needs of the participants, plus the lack of clarity of the role of civil society organizations among women beneficiaries and audience. Moreover, the multiplicity and diversity of providers and poor coordination among them negatively affected providing services. Unclear/scattered roles and responsibilities: The lack of the real role of women's civil society organizations to address protection concerns and psychological support to women. Women organisation posses experience where they can contribute positively to lessen the impact of the acute needs. However, the lack of involvement and consultation with and among women organizations need to be addressed. Recommendations We call upon the International community to:
We call upon The Palestinian Authority Organizations to:
Other Recommendations:
Published: July, 2019 Notes: 1 Gaza Community Mental Health Program. 2 Gender-Based Violence (GBV) is any harmful act of sexual, physical, psychological, mental, and emotional abuse that is perpetrated against a person's will and that is based on socially ascribed differences between males and females. (OCHA). 3 “The humanitarian impact of Gaza Electricity and Fuel Crisis on GBV”, May 2017. 4 WAC Study “Women and Great Return March”, 2018. 5 MIFTAH study “A Vision for Palestinian Women’s Rights Organizations”, 2017. |
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