Palestine launched its first UNSCR1325 National Action Plan (NAP) for the period of 2017-2019. The NAP was developed through a national effort led by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs as the head of the Higher National Committee for the Implementation of UNSCR 1325. It integrates the directions of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Advocacy Strategy, which was developed by the National Coalition for Implementing UNSCR 1325 in 2015. The NAP establishes the activities meant to achieve the strategic objectives, as well as the expected results, indicators, various roles like who should implement them. It also identifies a timeframe to achieve the results that meet the needs of and contribute to the protection and safeguarding of Palestinian women, guaranteeing their right to life and preserving their dignity.
Palestinian society, specifically Palestinian women, endured hardship and calamity as a result of the brutal Israeli aggression and the economic siege imposed upon the Palestinian territory, beginning with the 1948 war to the 1967 occupation of the West Bank and Gaza to the latest aggression against the Gaza Strip in 2014 and the ongoing instability across the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Women in particular were affected by the denial of their basic rights. The opportunities for women cannot become reality without a clear strategic vision and the creation of institutional mechanisms and a legal infrastructure for implementing them. This vision needs to revolve around democracy, justice and democracy and respect for women’s human rights in order to provide a suitable social, health and educational system to ensure active and genuine participation and to advance the society within the political, social and economic system.
The ultimate goals of the recent NAP include (a) increasing the participation of women in peacekeeping and conflict resolutions, (b) integrating the perspectives of women into peace agreements, (c) addressing the impact of conflict on women, and (d) protecting them from sexual violation while criminalising it. To realise these goals, the NAP encourages the allocation of resources, monitoring of budgets and mobilisation of local, regional and international support, as well as a strong monitoring and evaluation framework.