For a Wider Women Participation in the Local Elections

Within the activities conducted by the Women Empowerment program, and due to the agreement signed between Fateh and Hamas in Cairo, around 90 members of the local authorities, potential candidates, representatives of the social society organizations, university students and a representative of the Central Elections committee, joined a meeting hosted by the Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development today in Nablus. The Women Empowerment Program aims to encourage women to join the decision-making processes in relation to their public and private lives, and to join the social mobilization striving to hold the elections on its fixed date in July.

Mr. Samir Dwaikat, the coordinator of the Central Elections Committee, presented some statistics of the electoral process. The percentage of women who registered in Nablus for the elections reached (48%), which clearly indicates an increase in women's participation in the elections, and is marked as one of the highest rates in the region.

Mrs. Amal Khreishe, the general director of the Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development, spoke about the role of the feminist movement in encouraging women to participate in the elections, emphasizing the need to recognize women's rights as human rights, and the urgency to conduct educational workshops, exchange experiences with women, and build their capacities.

Hanan Imseih, the general director of the gender unit in the Ministry of Local Government, touched upon the ministry's role in increasing women's participation in the elections. She talked about the agreement which was signed by 10 local councils, stating to implement a strategy to take gender into consideration when designing policies, in addition to forming a gender forum. Mrs. Imseih explored the recommendations of the conference conducted by the Ministry of Local Government, with the participation of the local authorities to evaluate the experience, and discuss the possibilities of women's political empowerment after they are elected in the local authorities.

On his part, Dr. Nader Said, the general director of the Arabic World Centre for Studies and Development (ARWAD), spoke about the society's attitudes, and its willingness to participate in the electoral process, and to engage women as well. He presented his study which was conducted in 1996, that indicates a decrease in the acceptance of women's candidacy with 10–12 %. Said emphasized the importance of mobilization to end the discrimination against women, highlighting the role of the legal, and developmental and feminist organizations.