|
RESOLUTION 1325
• Full text
• History & Analysis
• Who's Responsible for Implementation?
• 1325
Anniversary
TRANSLATING
1325
UNITED
NATIONS
• Women
and the UN
• Security Council (SC)
• Gender & Peacekeeping
• 1325 Monitor: Women &
Gender in the work of the Security Council
• Gender Focal Points
• PeaceBuilding Commission
WOMEN, WAR &
PEACE WEB PORTAL
• UNIFEM
• PeaceWomen
JOIN WILPF
|
Towards
a More Secure Future: UN Agencies Operating in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory Call for Action in Improving the Situation of Palestinian
Women
UN entities working in Palestine, Press Release,
Jerusalem, International Women's Day 2005, 8 March 2005
Today, on the occasion of International Women's Day, 11 UN agencies
Office of the UN Special Coordinator (UNSCO), International Labour
Organization (ILO), Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
(OHCHR), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Development
Fund for Women (UNIFEM), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Relief
and Works Agency (UNRWA), World Food Programme (WFP), World Health
Organization (WHO) operating in the occupied Palestinian territory
have put their voices together in a call to action for the protection
of Palestinian women from the political, economic and social insecurity
that threatens their wellbeing.
"In Beijing, the nations of the world recognized that gender
equality, peace and development are inexorably linked, but ten years
later, it is still a Palestinian woman's face that we see in this
conflict when we speak of suffering from poverty, social upheaval
and violence." says Alia El-Yassir, UNIFEM Programme Coordinator.
Women in the occupied Palestinian territory face particular challenges
due both to the ongoing conflict situation coupled with internal constraints,
including:
· Poverty: As a result of growing unemployment, declining incomes,
loss of property due to house demolitions, land requisitions and levelling,
the number of poor people has reached more than 2.2 million. Approximately
11% of the affected households, which are living on less than $2 per
day, are female-headed households. Studies show these households are
less able to stop the continuing cycle of poverty due to women's lack
of
qualifications and opportunities and family obligations from the continuing
cycle of poverty and vulnerability.
· Low political participation: Less than 6% of PLC members
are women and there are only 2 women in the new Palestinian cabinet.
Palestinian Authority institutions have a representation of only 13%
women, which falls below 1% at the local government level. Women account
for just
over 10% of lawyers and less than 9% of judges
· School drop-out: reports of increasing early marriage suggests
a higher drop rate past compulsory levels of education, eventually
leading to worsening economic security and family health . Early marriage
contributes to 46% of the drop-out rate for female students, particularly
at the secondary level, due to the limitation of compulsory education
and the worsening economic situation.
· Food insecurity: 368,480 non-refugee Palestinian women are
food aid dependent,
· Lack of access to reproductive health services: 31% of pregnant
women are anaemic. Home deliveries increased from 5.2% (2000) to over
30% (2003); 61 women delivered at checkpoints between September 2000
and October 2004, out of which 36 were stillbirths.
· Low participation in formal labour force: 82.7 % of women
in the West Bank and 90.5% of women in the Gaza Strip are outside
the formal labour force, reflecting a heavy burden of care, a large
portion of unpaid work, low levels of qualification and limited job
opportunities that are clustered in a small number of occupations.
About 25% of working women from refugee camps in OPT are employed
in elementary occupations, which are low-paid and irregular.
· The Barrier: If construction of the Barrier continues as
planned,thousands of Palestinians in the area between the Barrier
and the Green Line would be adversely affected by loss of work, limited
freedom of movement resulting in limited access to health and education
services, migration and psychosocial burdens. Women would suffer the
impact more deeply due to social fragmentation and loss of personal
freedoms.
The UN agencies call upon:
· Israeli authorities to ensure the protection and safety of
Palestinian women as well as their unconditional access to crucial
services in health, nutrition, education and employment.
· the Palestinian Authority to provide legislation that ensures
formal and substantive equality and equity between men and women in
respect to all their human rights, in line with the Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
· the international community to ensure that all parties to
the conflict respect human rights laws and principles and abide by
International Humanitarian Law regarding the protection of civilians,
including women; and that an environment be created that is conducive
of Palestinian reform and institution-building processes that are
based on gender equality and equity standards.For further information,
please contact:
June Ray, OHCHR, Tel: 08-2827021, fax: 08-2827321, mobile: 059416025,
email: june.ray@undp.org
Alia El-Yassir, UNIFEM, Tel: 02-6268236, fax: 02-6268222, mobile:
0546290024, email: alia.elyassir@undp.org
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA)
Mac House
P.O.Box 38712
Jerusalem
Tel:++ 972-2-5829962/5853
Fax:++972-2-5825841
email:ochaopt@un.org
www.ochaopt.org
|
|
NEWS
• 1325
PeaceWomen E-News
• Country News Index
• International News
• Peacekeeping News
RESOURCES
• Country
& Thematic
Civil Society, UN & Government
• 1325
Advocacy Tools
INITIATIVES
• In-country
• Regional and Global
• 1325 in Action
ORGANIZATIONS
• Country-specific
• International
LATEST
PEACEWOMEN UPDATES
PEACEWOMEN
NGO WEB RING
Women, Peace &
Security Community representing the diversity and depth of research, organizing
and advocacy on women, peace and security issues.
|
PeaceWomen