Ramallah – The Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development held the second networking workshop for the Children Friendly Mobile Units project, with the generous support of the Italian Agency for development Cooperation and in partnership with the Cooperation for the Development of Emerging Countries (COSPE). The workshop took place at the City Inn Palace Hotel in Ramallah. Attendees included a number of governmental and nongovernmental organizations and grassroots institutions. The workshop aimed to highlight the project’s achievements and challenges, and to research local networking strategies and collaboration to ensure the sustainability of psychosocial services beyond the end of project.
The project aims at increasing the access of children (until the age of 17) to psychosocial services in Deir Sharaf and Qusra in the Nablus Governorate; Shuqba, Biddu, Beit Surik, Beit Ur al-Tahta, Beit Ur al-Fauqa, Al-Janiya, and Deir Ballut in the Ramallah and Salfit Governorate; Irtah, Jbara, and Shufa from the Tulkarem Governorate; Battir, al-Walaja and Wadi Fukin from the Bethlehem Governorate. The project focuses on forming mobile units with a staff of counselors, social operators and free-helpline specialists, in order to help minors deal with trauma, social pressures, and violations of the occupation.
PWWSD director, Amal Khreisheh welcomed the guests, and declared that the project was able to foster in a healthy environment children who are exposed to violations of the Israeli occupation and settler practices, and help reduce symptoms of psychological, social, and physical repercussions. The project has contributed to supporting the affected families and their resilience. It has also contributed to creating a safe space for children to express themselves through various interactive activities.
Project manager, Valerio Baldissara said that despite the challenges faced so far, they were able to work and provide services to children and achieve the project’s goals. He thanked the staff members from counselors, specialists, partners, beneficiaries, and all those who contributed to the success of the Children Friendly Mobile Units project.
Head of the Counseling Department at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MoEHE), Elham Ghanim emphasized the continued partnership and cooperation between MoEHE and PWWSD, in order to organize student meetings in support of the ministry’s policy to reduce violence, seeking to develop the educational process and improve the quality of education. She added that the right to education lacks if the right to health and protection does not complement it. Therefore, the ministry works to combat violence in all its forms in schools, by creating a rounded policy to reduce violence and implementing it in schools as a necessary step for the protection of students, as a basic human right.
Karima Mujahed, Counsellor at Battir and al-Walaja UNRWA schools, talked about the role of counselling in general, and the importance of cooperating with local communities to empower children. She added that the project has made a tangible and positive difference for students, calling for more cooperation in order to raise the children’s awareness of psychological health and to increase their access to psychosocial services.
Nimeh Mustafa, Head of Deir Ballut Secondary School for Girls, highlighted the psychological challenges facing her students and teachers, and the importance of the project in providing protection mechanisms and preventative measures against violence. She said that the project served students and their families directly, through awareness sessions and various activities focusing on the topics of violence and its forms, harassment on social media sites, protection mechanisms, adolescence, and early marriage. As well as offering student consultations in addition to individual and group counseling.
A number of participating students spoke about the activities and their effects on them personally, as well as the project’s role in the process of positive change. Student Ruba Talib said, “the project helped me recognize violence in all its forms and how to prevent it, as well as the importance of family unity and that family members are our friends and will help us solve the problems we face on a daily basis.” Student Huda Omar added, “The project contributed in strengthening my personality and I became able to speak without fear or worry, I also learned how to respect my boundaries and not to cross them.” Student Layth Drubeh said, “I learned about the issues of adolescence, political violence, dropping out of school, smoking, and I know how to deal with them now.”
Na’ela Awad, a woman benefitting from the project, highlighted the challenges facing women and their effects on confidence, fear, and worry, as well as the basics of family upbringing, family communication, and dialogue with children. She said that the project’s workshops helped women learn self-defense, self-expression, and demand their rights, which has contributed to relieving some of their stress and psychological pressures, and has improved their relations with the people around them. The workshops also focused on the basic approaches of raising children, communicating with other children, and communication among peers.
This type of workshop sheds a light on the importance of local cooperation and networking, in order to ensure sustainable access to psychosocial services for women and children in marginalized areas. Tawfiq Qadadha, a representative from the Ramallah and Albireh Directorate of Education, noted that the role of Education Directorates lies in coordinating with institutions that provide mental health services, and making their work in schools easier and more efficient