Palestinian Deputy Ministers take steps to accelerate progress toward gender equality
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“The Palestinian Authority senior decision makers must be aware of the current situation of the Gender Units (and the need) to translate the Palestinian Authority’s political commitments towards gender equality and women’s empowerment issues” said H.E Mousa Abu Zeid, Chief of the Palestinian Authority General Personnel Council.
The Chief of the General Personnel Council was speaking at a high level retreat organized by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and UN Women to discuss the role and operationalization of Gender Units in line ministries. The first of its kind, the two-day retreat, on 22 and 23 March 2015, convened a total of 11 Palestinian ministers and deputy ministers, demonstrating the commitment of the Palestinian Authority to leverage its efforts towards gender equality.
To achieve clear results for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, commitments need to be translated into clear and operational plans that match adequate resources at all levels. While this principle is recognized and plans have been put in place, one of the major obstacles in implementing gender equality plans and mechanisms, continues to remain the lack of capacity and resources.
For the last 2 years, UN Women, under its Financing for Gender Equality programme, funded by the European Union, has been working to bridge the gaps between commitments and actual investments, so that gender priorities are not only planned for but are also translated into actions and actual financial and binding commitments.
To reach this end, the Gender Units have a key role to play. As per the cabinet resolution of 2008, the Gender Units have been established in line ministries to support and monitor the integration of gender equality and women’s empowerment issues in policies, plans and budgets. However, 6 years after their establishment in 19 ministries, the Gender Units continue to face major challenges; from the lack of resources to their marginalization and exclusion from planning and budgeting cycles.
For all participants at the retreat, it has been clear that the time has come to support more actively the Gender Units and provide them with the authority and tools necessary to fulfill their tasks. Recognizing the key role and responsibility they play, the Deputy Ministers recommended developing a policy paper highlighting the actions required from policy-makers in supporting Gender Units, as well as, more generally, national women’s machineries.
For H.E Abdallah Lahlouh, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, the action plan is clear: “Collaboration between UN Women and line ministries should be leveraged. If possible, a gender audit should be conducted in line ministries and, specifically in the Ministry of Agriculture, to identify and analyzes existing gender gaps, and collectively address these gaps in the agriculture sector.”
Stepping up the role of Gender Units has been one of the major priorities of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, as well as UN Women, in the framework of its support and cooperation with the Ministry. The conclusions of the meeting and the decision taken by Deputy Ministers to convene a follow-up meeting in a few months to assess progress, show promising changes for these commitments to be soon translated into concrete actions.