Young Women Leaders in Palestine

The war on Gaza is impacting women and girls at unprecedented levels with loss of life and catastrophic levels of humanitarian needs. According to OCHA, as of 22 January 2025, the casualty figures are estimated at 47,161 Palestinian fatalities in the Gaza strip, and 111,166 reported injured.  As per UN Women estimates, fatalities include over 7,216 women, 6,000 of whom were mothers, and 13,319 children. Among the remaining population, 1.9 million people (90 % of Gaza population) have been internally displaced, multiple times, of whom approximately 1 million were women and girls, who faced acute gender- specific vulnerabilities and challenges in displacement settings. The situation is also worsening in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli military operations are increasing in number and lethality. According to WHO, as of 21 January 2025, 870 Palestinians recorded killed (16 women and 177 children) and 7,123 were injured in the West Bank.

The ongoing war has had important repercussions and consequences. As the war continues, efforts directed towards the humanitarian and early recovery response needs to ensure full and meaningful participation of women at all stages of decision-making processes, across the humanitarian-development-peacebuilding nexus. Global data demonstrates that women’s participation in conflict prevention and resolution is central to achieving lasting, just and peace.

The “Virtual Dialogue on Gender-Responsive Humanitarian Action in Gaza: A Foundation for Women’s Participation and Leadership in Recovery Efforts”, co-organized by the UN Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action Compact and the Palestinian Ministry of Women’s Affairs emphasized the importance of women’s leadership in decision-making processes. The high-level conference underscored the significance of international instruments, including the Women Peace and Security Agenda, to ensure women’s leadership in processes that create transformative change.

Palestinian women, including young women, are valuable agents of change and innovation. They have unrelenting ambition and a fundamental right to play a role in shaping a future that is peaceful and secure, and where they and their communities can thrive.

About the Young Women Leaders in Palestine Programme:

Women are affected differently by conflict, insecurity, and violence. Due to the specific gendered impacts of conflicts, there is now strong evidence that women’s engagement in peace and security processes enhances the value of these processes and is essential to building sustainable peace. Women’s engagement both broadens the perspective brought to political dialogues and enables their voices and priorities to be reflected.

In line with UN Women’s work to advance the implementation of international normative frameworks towards the achievement of gender equality and women’s rights including UN Security Council Resolutions 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, UN Women Palestine aims to strengthen capacities and support the empowerment of young Palestinian women to advocate for gender equality in conflict prevention and peacebuilding. UN Women proposes to develop a Young Women Leader in Peacebuilding and Decision-Making network. It draws upon the successful experiences of the Gender Innovation Agora and the Young Women Peacebuilders Programme carried out by the UN Women Regional Office of Arab States and aims to work closely with both networks.

The scope of the network is to build a cadre of next generation of young women as meditators, negotiators and leaders of change and sustainable peace. Selected participants will engage in 60 hours of a capacity building programme covering the UN Security Council Resolutions 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security and UN Security Council Resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace and Security; as well as subsequent resolutions, conflict theories and analysis, including how to conduct gender-sensitive conflict analysis, conflict resolution methods, peace processes, formal and informal tracks, mediation processes, skills, values, and phases and local disputes settlement.

Delivery Language and Platform:

Learning activities will be carried out online. Certain sessions may take place in hybrid format.

The programme will be delivered in Arabic. Translation service into Arabic will be provided when needed.

Training Methods

The programme will be designed to use the below training methods:

Eligibility

To be eligible for consideration, Palestinian woman should:

• Be residing in Palestine.
• Be aged between 22 to 35.
• Be fully aware of the nature of the public affairs and political system.
• Have previous experience or demonstrated interested in areas related to gender equality, women’s empowerment, public policies, files of refugees, settlements, Jerusalem, water, security and peacebuilding.
• Be a member of youth-led or youth-servicing organizations or remarkable informal youth initiatives with access to youth networks.
• Have access to, and be reasonably proficient in, communication technologies.

Refugee women, women with disabilities and rural women are strongly encouraged to apply.

Benefits:

Members of the Young Women Leaders will have access to:

• Mentorship sessions with UN Women staff and selected experts to build their capacity on gender equality issues, awareness of the international gender equality and peace and security frameworks.
• The opportunity to exchange knowledge and best practices and collaborate in the development of large-scale initiatives with their fellow participants, as well as with young leaders from across the Arab region.
• Be nominated to attend high-level meetings.

How to apply

Application:

 “Candidate application” Form: https://forms.gle/oszYfruvZbzTjQmS7

Deadline for receiving applications:

28 February 2025