Gender equitable access to rural employment: supporting women’s associations in West Bank and Gaza Strip
FAO implements a number of projects promoting gender equality among Palestinians by increasing the agricultural opportunities available to women, at the same time enabling the beneficiaries to secure income and improve food security for themselves and their families.
During the past years trainings on agricultural techniques and innovations as well as on marketing and quality of products have led the Palestinian associations supported by FAO to high quality standards for their products with easy placement in the market. The model used aimed at increasing the associations’ possibility of enhancing their knowledge in agriculture and of trading their products nearby their own villages to overcome the consequences of the severe lack of freedom to travel within and between the West Bank and Gaza Strip (WBGS).
Currently, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Trade and Women’s Affairs, FAO supports 84 women’s associations in the WBGS, involving approximately 900 women farmers. Women’s groups attended trainings in food processing and preserving, and effective linkages have been facilitated between the associations and the market.
The activities undertaken in WBGS have been selected as a best practice by the UNDG policy network Best Practices publication for the chapter on MDG-1.
A case study on “Palestinian Women's Associations and Agricultural Value Chains” has been published by the FAO’s Gender, Equity and Rural Employment Division. It has been prepared by Francesca Dalla Valle and Peter Wobst from the Rural Employment Team within the FAO’s Gender, Equity and Rural Employment Division (ESW), in collaboration with Emma Conlan, Rana Hannoun, Ekci Suyapno and Adam Penman from FAO West Bank and Gaza Strip.