Established in 1994, the Wi’am: The Palestinian Conflict Transformation Center (Wi’am) is a Palestinian grassroots organization that seeks to improve community relations, resolve conflicts, and promote peaceful dialogue. Through empowering youth and women with practical life skills and knowledge of civic and legal rights, Wi’am aims to be a catalyst for political and social transformation. Specifically, the organization plays a vital role in promoting women’s rights, addressing gender-based violence, and advocating for gender equality through their joint advocacy council network.
In Palestine, female representation in local municipality councils is limited. Moreover, elected women council members face difficulties in establishing effective working relationships with their male counterparts, participating meaningfully in decision-making, and effectively conveying their messages. With support from ICAN’s Innovative Peace Fund (IPF), Wi’am is collaborating with local municipalities in Bethlehem and Hebron to address these challenges and enhance the active participation of elected female council members in local council affairs.
Wi’am conducted workshops for newly elected women council members and other women candidates to enhance their media and communication skills. They were taught effective ways to share and promote messages, ideas, or campaigns. Additionally, Wi’am established a joint advocacy council network consisting of 15 elected council members and 32 local activists, both men and women, from the West Bank. The network discussed women’s roles in local councils, gender dynamics within the councils, and the challenges women face in decision-making roles.
To complement these efforts, Wi’am organized a TV debate featuring three speakers, two of whom were female council members from their network. This debate aimed to raise community awareness about the obstacles women encounter while participating in political decision-making processes.
Wi’am’s approach fostered cooperation between local councils to promote gender equality and engage female council members in decision-making and gender mainstreaming in policies. The initiatives not only increased public awareness about the roles of women council members in decision-making but also enhanced their capacity to influence policies and advocate for gender equality.
“It was a unique experience for me. As an elected council member who participated in the study tour to different city councils, I’ve learned more about the experiences of other candidates and other elected members – it was beneficial and exciting”.
– An elected candidate
