Support for Women and Civil Society

Enhancing women’s participation and representation in the Palestinian political life represents an important task for achieving sustainable social justice. Women’s absence from decision-making arenas and structures marginalizes their voices and influence and keeps their concerns unattended. Especially the Palestinian labor market suffers from structural problems of inclusion particularly for young people and women. There are dramatic differences in labor force participation by gender.

Male participation rates reached 71 percent in 2017 while women have long been underrepresented in the Palestinian labor market with recent participation rates of 19 percent. In order to achieve a gender-just economic system in the future FES organizes a series of activities within the framework of the FES divisional project of “Political Feminism”. Regional and national workshops address local experts and stakeholders to work on concrete visions and goals for a gender just economy and civil society.

Moreover, we facilitate in cooperation with the Women’s Affairs Technical Committee (WATC) the Young Leaders Program in its third generation as part of the foundation’s strategy to support young adults in the MENA region. The FES believes that to foster the participation of women in politics, female participation in all public spheres needs to be expanded.