Under COVID-19: ActionAid Palestine to Support Agricultural Projects Empowering Women and Protecting the Lands
Aysha Abu Sninah (47 years old) is a mother of two children living in the old city of Hebron (H2) that suffers from marginalization and Israeli settlers’ violence and movement restrictions. This situation pushed her to approach ActionAid Palestine (AAP) to help her in establishing her own agricultural project on two and half donums of land that She inherited a after the death of her father in one of Hebron governorate’s remote areas in Area “C’ in the south of West Bank. This area is under full Israeli control that suffer from Israeli restrictions imposed over population, movement, planning and infrastructure, natural resource use, construction, and development.
(Photo of Aysha at the beginning of her enterprise after she received agricultural equipment and items from ActionAid Palestine at the beginning of COVID-19 crisis)
Supporting Agricultural Projects in Area “C” to Protect Lands
There are no late mornings for Aysha who wakes up every day at 4 am to go to her land and start work in picking and irrigating her agricultural crops. Through a grant provided by AAP’s project of “Valiance-Basala”, empowering women in H2,”funded by Australian Government - Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Ayesha and her unemployed husband started rehabilitating this land by building a greenhouse where they grow cucumber and other seasonal vegetables. Aysha said: “I enjoy working in agriculture and this grant helped me a lot in protecting my land in Area “C”.
(Photo of Aysha and her husband while they are picking cucumber inside the greenhouse through her agricultural enterprise supported by ActionAid Palestine)
Empowering Women and Strengthening their Resilience During COVID-19 Crisis
This enterprise will be a source of income that will enable Aysha to provide for her family under the deterioration of economic conditions due to full lockdown resulting from the outbreak of COVID-19 and loss of livelihood of her husband. Aysah said: “this grant and other savings supported me and my family financially and economically and provided me with income specially during these times and under any other conditions”.
(Photo of Aysah while she is picking seasonal crops from her land that she could rehabilitate it with a grant provided by ActionAid Palestine)
Aysha Inspires other Palestinian Women to Achieve their Independence
Aysha’ s biggest dream is to hire and support many Palestinian women who want to work but they didn’t have an opportunity until now. Aysha also advises them to start their own projects saying: “each woman should build her enterprise in any field she enjoys to achieve her economic independence”. Aysha expressed her appreciation for AAP: “thanks to AAP for this grant that fully changed my life allowing me to utilize my free time”.
(photo of Aysha while she is picking cucumber in the greenhouse through agricultural enterprise supported by ActionAid Palestine)
AAP Continues Supporting Palestinian Women
Through AAP’s “Valiance – Basala” project funded by DFAT; AAP supported 22 women to establish their enterprises in the H2 area of Hebron. This included the provision of agricultural items and equipment needed for planting vegetables and livestock farming and other commercial items …etc. Economic activities combined with and awareness raising have supported women’s social and economic empowerment through enhancing their access to productive assets. concurrently, women are able to address the structural causes of discrimination and violence against them through their collective efforts to analyze the social, economic, and political context that affects all aspects of life.
(photo of Aysha while she is looking after the crop of cucumber inside the greenhouse through agricultural enterprise supported by ActionAid Palestine)
Background Information
ActionAid
ActionAid is a global federation working for social justice and gender equality and eradicate poverty. ActionAid works worldwide to empower people living in poverty and exclusion with focus on women’s rights .ActionAid works directly and closely with communities, civil society organizations, women movements and social groups and movements and other allies to tackle root causes of poverty and oppression. ActionAid deliver grassroots programmes to utilize efforts of global struggle movements working for a just, fair and sustainable world. Based on human rights-based approach and women rights’ principles, ActionAid seeks to fairly re-distribute powers through solidarity, empowerment, awareness campaigns and creating alternatives to ensure that everybody enjoys the right to a life of dignity, and freedom from oppression.
ActionAid in Palestine (AAP) is a part of that federation which started its work in Palestine in 2007 to strengthen the resilience of Palestinian People as ActionAid believes that they should enjoy their rights to freedom, justice and self-determination. AAP implements a number of programs through its engagement with communities and women and youth groups seeking to empower them and enhance their influential civil and political participation to understand their rights and undertake collective activism to address the protracted rights violations resulting from the prolonged occupation of Palestine. AAP works simultaneously to enhance their leadership capacity and knowledge to practice their citizenship in holding authorities and other duty bearers to account.
For more information, please contact
Riham Jafari
Coordinator of Advocacy and Communication in Gaza Strip and West Bank
Mobile:
+972 (0) 595242890
Office:
+972 (0) (2) 22 13 137
Email: