ActionAid Palestine organize an awareness walk for women in Wadi Al-Kuf natural reserve on the occasion of International Women's Day

Hebron - West Bank - ActionAid Palestine (AAP) organized an awareness walk in Wadi Al-Kuf natural reserve. This walk targeted women from Tal Rumeida neighborhood and the southern area in Hebron Governorate in the south of the West Bank through project “Valiance -Basala -Empowering women in old City of Hebron(H2)” funded by Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trad.(DFAT)

More than 100 women participated in this walk which are from AAP’s women's groups. Those targeted women came from marginalized areas in Hebron governorate, including Tel Rumeida ,the southern area, and Jalajel.

 Many recreational activities were implemented in this walk by a number of psychosocial counselors and tour guide Mowaffaq Hafez. Those activities included relaxation, stress management, competitions, group and stimulatory games. Some members of APP’s staff also joined the women.

Women enjoyed participating in the activities of this walk, which provided them with an opportunity for psychological relief and meeting  with other women who share concerns and fears. The walk also offered them with a free space to express their fears and concerns. At the end of the walk, symbolic gifts were distributed to the women.

The women participating in the walk thanked AAP for organizing this activity and recommended to continue organizing this kind of activities from time to time.

Fatima Edkidek is a Palestinian woman from Tel Rumeida said: "This walk is part of the psychological support that women in Tel Rumeida need. It also came at the right time to alleviate the psychological pressures that we suffer from as a result of settlers’ violence."

 Lubna Al-Bitar is a women activist living in Tel Rumeida said: “We enjoyed participating in this walk as it is the first of its kind that allowed us to get to know the Wadi Al-Kuf natural reserve. This walk helps us to overcome feelings of fear, anxiety, and psychological pressures that women suffer from in Tel Rumeida, which is a closed by Israeli checkpoints suffering from constant violence by Israeli settlers.

Samar Abu Snaineh is a women activist living in the southern area in Hebron said: “we participated in this recreational walk on the occasion of Women's Day to help us to deal with the psychological pressures resulting from the practices of the Israeli occupation."

Valiance project supports women in H2 by providing them with agricultural items and equipment needed for planting vegetables and livestock farming and other commercial items ..etc. Economic activities combined with awareness raising activities 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.

Background Information

ActionAid in Palestine (AAP) is a part of global federation working for social justice and gender equality and eradicate poverty in more than 45 countries around the world. AAP 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 Palestine

Mobile:

+972 (0) 595242890

Office:

+972 (0) (2) 22 13 137

Email: Riham.Jafari@actionaid.org