Ref: 40/2008

Date: 13 October 2008

PCHR Women’s Unit Organizes a Coordination Meeting for Organizations Providing Legal Assistance to Women

On Monday, 13 October 2007, the Women’s Unit in the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) organized a coordination meeting for organizations that provide legal assistance to women. Representatives from UNRWA Women’s Activities Centers and organizations that provide legal assistance to women in the Gaza Strip attended the meeting that aimed at activating coordination and networking among participating organizations. The meeting also aimed at discussing problems facing the work of these organizations and at cooperating to develop mechanisms to enhance cooperation and coordination among participating organizations.

Ms. Muna al-Shawa, Director of PCHR Women’s Rights Unit, opened the meeting by welcoming the participants. Al-Shawa introduced PCHR Women’s Rights Unit and its activities. She reiterated the importance of the relation with women’s organizations as well as UNRWA Women’s Activities Centers in the Gaza Strip.

Participants discussed different problems facing the organizations that provide legal assistance and awareness services to women in the Gaza Strip. The most prominent problems that participants discussed were: The absence of coordination among women’s organizations; the lack of intervention by women’s organization before women face problems; women’s lack of awareness of their rights; and problems related to the implementation of decisions taken by Sharia’ Courts. Participants unanimously agreed upon the importance of targeting schoolgirls with awareness programs.

In addition, the participants discussed problems related to the follow-up of issues of women who are victims of violence. These problems include the lack of shelters for violated women, weakness of cooperation offered by the police, lack of specialized units within police stations and community negative view of women who submit complaints against those who practice violence against them.

Finally, the participants concluded that it is important to have more meetings aiming at networking amongst organizations, exchanging experience in this filed, activating mechanisms of coordination and cooperation amongst women’s organizations to serve women. They reiterated that civil society organizations an never be an alternative to governmental institutions; thus, they demanded coordination and cooperation to be sought with governmental institutions with regard to providing assistance to women.