Ramallah – The Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development (PWWSD) held a workshop titled “Women’s Economic Empowerment: Prospects and Challenges” at the City Inn Palace Hotel. This came as part of the “Women’s Economic Empowerment” project in cooperation with Oxfam-Québec, which aims to strengthen women’s resilience by creating work opportunities through participation in cooperatives and individual income-generating projects. The project has enhanced product quality, in addition to providing marketing and promotional opportunities for local products, by coordinating widely with official and unofficial bodies.
Representatives from the Ministry of Labor, Ministry of National Economy, Chamber of Commerce, and The National Bank, as well as a number of women participants in the economic empowerment project attended the workshop. Ma’ali Barqawi welcomed the attendees, and emphasized the role of Palestinian women in all facets of life, particularly economic empowerment, the key to women’s empowerment in different fields.
Hikmat Alami, coordinator of the economic empowerment project, highlighted the significance and goals of economic empowerment, as well as the project’s centering on developing cooperatives through staff capacity building with financial, economic, administrative, and marketing skills. She stated that the project has contributed to strengthening women’s resilience and creating work opportunities through cooperative and income-generating small businesses. It has also contributed to developing the technical skills and capabilities of women in cooperatives. As part of the plan to economically empower women, a promotional outlet was opened in Old Ramallah under the name “Arts & Crafts” to market the products of women’s cooperatives.
The workshop discussed 4 papers by the Ministry of National Economy, Ministry of Labor, Chamber of Commerce and Industry-Ramallah, and The National Bank. Mohammad Tarwa, head of the Consumer Protection department at the Ministry of National Economy, talked about the need to implement the specifications and standards of Palestinian production, where the ministry is seeking to develop Palestinian production to compete with Israeli products. He recommended further cooperation between PWWSD, the ministry, and the Palestine Standards Institution, in order to organize awareness and developmental activities for women’s organizations highlighting developmental mechanisms for women’s production. In addition to mechanisms and practices to implement competitive product specifications in the Palestinian market that can compete with and replace Israeli products.
Saleh Farid, head of the Cooperative Registration department at the Ministry of Labor, discussed the significance of cooperatives, as well as production marketing efforts. He highlighted the mechanisms of developing cooperatives through the spirit of cooperative work and integrated economic work based on product development.
Maysoun Far’an, gender coordinator at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry-Ramallah, addressed the significance of small businesses, which contribute to national income, as well as the importance of registering small businesses with the Chamber of Commerce, which facilitates trainings for women and marketing their products in local and international exhibits.
Jamal Mousa, head of public relations at The National Bank, highlighted the significance of small businesses, which support the local economy. He emphasized the social contributions of banks to the community. He noted that The National Bank is in constant partnership with women’s organizations to facilitate women’s businesses, including guarantees and interest reductions down to zero percent. In addition to providing the business analysis and consultations necessary to building long-term sustainable businesses that can help combat poverty and unemployment.