Rawan Rajab: Model of Community Entrepreneurship for Combating Impacts of Climate Change in Palestine

Rawan Rajab is a young Palestinian woman, environmental activist and community entrepreneur living with her family in the village of Kufr Al-Labad in Tulkarem Governorate in the north of West Bank. Rawan is a university student who performs voluntary activities and leads a community project to preserve the Palestinian environment and overcome unemployment. She named her project “Blue Stone”, which is a pioneering community environmental project implementing many initiatives and activities to recycle solid waste in the Palestinian environment such as glass and a group of other waste and converting them into sustainable environmentally friendly products.

Supporting Youth Leadership in Climate Action

Rawan received support from ActionAid-Palestine within the project " Strengthening Palestinian young people, particularly young women’s leadership and influence for resilient, just and green societies”, within the second phase of the Strategic Partnership Program with ActionAid-Denmark, funded by the Danish International Development Agency, Danida.  This support was used to develop Rawan’s community initiatives "our country is free of plastic waste", which is an initiative that responds to climate change and reduces its effects by recycling wastes, the most important of which are glass, sawdust and paper to produce environmental interior stone for decoration in various shapes and colors.

Rawan and her team seek to collect approximately 500 kilos of glass per week from designated areas in Kafr al-Labad, such as wedding halls and cafes, to establish a culture of waste sorting and recycling to benefit from it. Solid waste causes damage to the environment if it is not recycled.

Rawan got the tools and equipment needed for the project, and started implementing it in mid-May 2021, as the beginning of production took place in the small area adjacent to her house. Rawan expresses her thanks to ActionAid-Palestine: "ActionAid-Palestine has provided us with tools as waste baskets, and other tools that are used in the production process to produce products and use them to beautify the village and the place."

Climate Action and Environmental Activism are essential to Community Leadership

 Rawan considers this environmental activity and climate action a pioneering act that contributes to building young leadership: "I wanted to be a successful entrepreneurial young woman, so I joined a lot of trainings and participated in voluntary works to develop my skills. This initiative increased my strength and presence in society, as I became a productive and active woman who is able to create change in society and the environment. Community participation makes us leaders in the field capable of making a sustainable community impact and designing community initiatives that contribute to solving environmental problems.

Engaging Youth in Climate Action is a Critical Need

Rawan believes in the effective role of youth in reducing the effects of climate change, as she says: "we are at a time when everyone is required to think about the upcoming environmental risks and the effects of climate change and drought because they affect the future of youth and future generations. We need actual action with environmental initiatives and projects, as there are many young men and women are ready to utilize their energies in environmental community action. Our role is to monitor environmental risks, each in his/her area, and design mobilization, pressure and advocacy campaigns to activate laws and highlight environmental risks.”

Rawan sends a message to her male and female peers, asking them to take care of the environment and to work together to reduce the effects of climate change.

ActionAid ‘s Project of “Strengthening Palestinian young people, Particularly Young Women’s Leadership and Influence for Resilient, Just and Green Societies” seeks to enhance the role of young men and women and actors in the field of environment and climate and enable them to lead and implement actions and initiatives that seek to build green societies. The project also aims to promote environmental practices among Palestinian youth and enhance their role in preserving the Palestinian environment and protecting the land”.

This project provides Palestinian youth with sufficient space to implement their green initiatives and find environmental solutions to climate issues. It also supports and enhances the role of young women, especially in marginalized areas, by empowering them to find sustainable sources of livelihood and enhancing their role in holding the relevant authorities accountable to play their role in the matter of climate.

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