”Tradition places women in an inferior position to men - that is one of the challenges this project faces”, said the Minister for Social Affairs, Majeda Al Masri at the graduation ceremony under the project “Inheritance Denied: Combating Gender Inequality in Property Rights in Palestine”.
70 women and nine men from 20 Community Based Organizations (CBOs) have been educated in campaign management for women’s inheritance rights. The 79 participants have gone through five different training events: Leadership and communication, Public speaking, Negotiation skills, Conflict transformation and Advocacy and lobbying.
Several high-profile people attended the graduation ceremony on 22 March 2011, including the Minister for Social Affairs, Majeda Al Masri, the mayor of Ramallah Janet Khoury, the mufti of Bethlehem , the Head of the Social Affairs Section in the Office of the EU Representative, Mrs. Fabienne Besonne, and of course family and friends of the participants.
They all stressed the importance of the project and the Minister for Social Affairs called for a “need to modify the family code”.
Confidence to talk about needs and rights
There is no doubt that the training has changed the participants and helped them overcome fear and created self-esteem for them to engage in discussions both inside and outside their home.
“The daughter of one of the participants saw the change in her mother, and the daughter’s relationship with her mother is now different. She now saw her mother as more self-confident and they were able to discuss their needs and rights in a manner that were never done before,” said Mrs. Mary Ayed, Board Director of Birzeit Women’s Association.
One of the participants, Manar from Hebron tells: “Before I was afraid to claim my rights, but now I have power and I dare ask for my rights. I have a page on Facebook where I post the things we have learned here and discuss it with my friends.”
The training events were conducted in Nablus, Ramallah, Bethlehem and Gaza. Both staff members of the targeted CBOs, lawyers and journalists participated in the events, that helped create a solid network between the three groups.
Lawyer Imad from Nablus says about the outcome of his training: “I come from a very small village in the North of the West Bank, where women normally do not get their inheritance. I never thought that was a problem until now. I now see that women are allowed to get their inheritance”
In the coming two years the 20 CBOs who participated in the training events will extend the project information to 100 CBOs through 150 workshop events and will conduct local awareness building/advocacy/education campaigns.
The project is funded by the EU and Danida.
By Matilde Sonali Holck