Women's Affairs Center (GAZA)
WOMEN'S AFFAIRS CENTER (GAZA)
A Palestinian women's organization in Gaza.
The Women's Affairs Center is a Palestinian nongovernmental research and training center that promotes women's rights and gender equality within Palestinian society. It was established in Gaza City in August 1991; the founding committee included (alphabetically) Rita Giacaman, Rema Hammami, Sahar Khalifa, Islah Jad, I'timad Muhanna and Amal Nashashibi. In 1994, the center separated from a similar organization in Nablus and a change in the board followed to include prominent educated men and women, mainly from Gaza. In 1995, another change in board membership took place. The center aims at empowering women in Gaza through advocacy and research, and through training women in professional and technical skills in research, media, and management. Its goal is gender equity. It is difficult to assess its impact on women, but the center has managed to train some women in research and media skills. The center has no formal links with the Palestinian Authority and has wide networks of relations with other women's organizations in Gaza, the West Bank, and the Arab world; it has no relations with Israelis. The center depends on external nongovernmental funding and since the second Intifada, in September 2000, has faced financial difficulties.
see also aqsa intifada, al-; gaza strip; gender: gender and education; intifada (1987–1991); palestine;west bank.
islah jad