Ref: 07/2020

With participation of 24 members (18 females) representing 6 community-based organizations (CBOs) from Gaza City, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) concluded on Wednesday, 19 February 2020, a 20-hour training course on women rights and means of intervention and protection to combat violence against women from 16 to 19 February 2019.

This training course comes in light of PCHR’s long-term efforts to contribute to building the capacity of those working and volunteering in civil society organizations and youth groups in the field of human rights concepts in general and women’s rights in particular, in addition to issues relevant to gender-based violence (GBV), and mechanisms of intervention and legal protection to treat these issues.  Thus, they become a new addition in disseminating these concepts within their organizations and colleagues and providing the necessary support to women, who are victims of violence, in a way that promotes and respects women’s rights and enhances their role in building society.

The training program tackled various topics commensurate with the needs of the targeted group, aiming at identifying the concepts of human rights in general and women’s rights in particular in addition to gender-based violence, its forms and causes, ways of dealing with it, the mechanisms of intervention and legal protection of women, who are victims of violence, Palestinian legislations and their role in protecting women, the national intervention system for victims of violence, and women’s political participation.

At the end of the course, PCHR organized a closing ceremony, where Raji Sourani, PCHR’s Director, emphasized that gender-based violence has inflicted many profound consequences on individuals, family, society and the state, stressing on women’s role in building and developing society.

He also mentioned that the Palestinian woman has many contributions at all levels in this field, warning that the Palestinian women like other women of the world suffer from violence and in different forms, but the particularity of the Palestinian situation has made them suffer from complex and multiple violence practiced by both the occupation and society.

In her speech, Mona Shawwa, Head of PCHR’s Women’s Rights Unit, said that PCHR seeks to empower CBOs, especially those working in the field of GBV and women’s rights.S he added that PCHR organizes training courses in this field and networks with organizations to provide services for women.

Abdul Halim Abu Samra, Director of PCHR’s Training Unit, said that this training course promotes cooperation and networking between PCHR, CBOs and youth groups in the Gaza Strip because it focuses on basic issues and needs of women and strengthening the capacity of participants in training to respond to cases of violence against women in addition to providing assistance, intervention and protection for women who are victims of violence, through expanding the community interaction between PCHR and the organizations active in women’s issues to achieve a cohesive society that fights all forms of violence.

The participants emphasized that “the course was characterized with its rich topics; trainers’ efficiency and various and interactive training methods used in the course, which shed the light in several important topics which enhanced and developed their skills”.

At the end of the ceremony, all participants in the training course received certificates.