Aisha Association for Women and Child Protection

Last updated

AISHA Association for Women and Child Protection (AISHA), established in 2009, is an independent Palestinian women's organization working to achieve gender integration through economic empowerment and psychosocial support to marginalized groups. The organization works in the Gaza Strip with focus on Gaza City and the Northern area.

Contents

AISHA seeks to protect and help women and children from violence through raising awareness of relevant psychological, social, legal, and economic issues. AISHA also focuses on advocacy, creating and raising awareness of domestic violence, gender equality, and feminist issues among local community leaders and organizations. AISHA specifically focuses on women with disabilities and women-headed displaced households, children of these women aged 6–12 years, families of women who are victims of violence, school counselors, teachers, doctors, and psychosocial service providers. [1]

History

Between 1996 and 2009, AISHA operated under the name "Women Empowerment Program (WEP)" as the women department within the Gaza Community Mental Health Program (GCHMP).

Given the expanding scope of the GCHMP, a restructuring process took place by which the WEP evolved into an independent organization, AISHA. AISHA was under the administrative and financial umbrella of GCMHP until December 31, 2010.

On Wednesday, 16 January 2013, the Gaza city head office of the association was the subject of a break-in by unknown assailants. [2]

Projects

Empowerment of Violated Women and those at Risk

AISA's first project was implemented from April to December 2011. It provided vocational training for seventy women in sewing, beauty services, ceramics, knitting, and video. As part of the project, the beneficiaries received psycho-support.

Protecting Violated Women

Protecting Violated Women was implemented from February to December 2011. Twenty eight women received services that included individual and group guidance, vocational training and supervision. The project included home visits to the trainees to check on their conditions and for follow-up after completion of training, in addition to the family guidance visits conducted during the project. The project gave an opportunity for additional outside training, and worked with each participant to check on future planning and thinking in income-yielding projects.

The third project was implemented from April to November 2011 in the Governorate of Gaza. The project raised legal awareness among the public in the Gaza strip and aimed to improve legal assistance services.

The project was part of a UN effort, represented by the UNDP, to reduce the effects of embargo and the war on Gaza, which has resulted in poverty and unemployment. The project worked to ensure the right of litigation as a constitutional right, and to enhance the rule of law. The project provided legal education, legal consultation and mediation, and legal representation (including for litigation and arbitration) to vulnerable groups.

The project was in partnership with five other associations: Al-Atta Association, Women's Affairs Center, Culture and Free Thought Forum, Women's Programs Union, Coalition for Justice and the National Association for Democracy and Law.

Improving Palestinian Social Awareness and Ability to Address Issues of Gender Equality

This project comprised two parts.

The first part was implemented from January 2011 until April 2012 in the Governorate of Gaza in partnership with the Palestinian Center for Democracy and Conflicts Resolution.

It educated 1500 children from the preparatory stage in UNRWA schools, 500 citizens, and 160 initiative coordinators from the schools on gender issues and violence. The project consisted of education sessions and discussion meetings. Also, the school coordinators were trained to increase their efficiency in the teaching of gender equality issues. Topics covered included school violence, the protection of children from exploitation, and gender and child rights.

The project consisted of education sessions for the group with discussion meetings between them in addition to training for the initiative guides and coordinators in the schools in order to increase their efficiency in teaching the children on gender equality issues. Among the topics were: school violence, protection of children from exploitation, gender and child rights.

The second part of the project was implemented December 2011 until May 2012 in the Governorate of Gaza in partnership with the Wefaq Society for Woman and Child Care.

It was a social education campaign about violence against women, its implications, and the mechanisms for intervention to protect violated women. The project targeted 720 people through 36 training workshops of 5 sessions each, of which three were psycho-social and two legal.

Project for Patients of Occupational Therapy and Rehabilitation

The fifth project was implemented from May to December 2011 in partnership with the Gaza Mental Health Program. The project gave vocational training to occupational therapy and rehabilitation patients.

Related Research Articles

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (S/RES/1325), on women, peace, and security, was adopted unanimously by the UN Security Council on 31 October 2000, after recalling resolutions 1261 (1999), 1265 (1999), 1296 (2000), and 1314 (2000). The resolution acknowledged the disproportionate and unique impact of armed conflict on women and girls. It calls for the adoption of a gender perspective to consider the special needs of women and girls during conflict, repatriation and resettlement, rehabilitation, reintegration, and post-conflict reconstruction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Education in the State of Palestine</span> Overview of education in Palestine

Education in the State of Palestine refers to the educational system in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, which is administered by the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education. Enrollment rates amongst Palestinians are relatively high by regional and global standards. According to a youth survey in 2003, 60% between the ages 10–24 indicated that education was their first priority. Youth literacy rate was 98.2%, while the national literacy rate was 91.1% in 2006. The literacy rate ages 15-24 was 99.4% in 2016. Enrollment ratios for higher education were 45% in 2022. In 2016 Hanan Al Hroub was awarded the Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize for her work in teaching children how to cope with violence.

The Agoro Community Development Association (ACDA) is a Non-governmental organization (NGO) that assists the rural Agoro community in northern Uganda’s Lamwo and Kitgum districts. These districts have a religiously and culturally diverse population of over 600,000, most of whom are Acholi. Post Ugandan Independence in 1962 the area has suffered almost continual conflict, persecution & neglect, much of it based on ethnic tensions. Socio-culturally, there has traditionally been deep gender inequality and power imbalance between men and women. Sexual violence, child marriage and lack of respect for property rights against girls and women remain a prevalent, but silent, crime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in the State of Palestine</span>

Homosexuality in the Palestinian territories is considered a taboo subject; lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people experience persecution and violence. There is a significant legal divide between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with the former having more progressive laws and the latter having more conservative laws. Shortly after the Jordanian annexation of the West Bank in 1950, same-sex acts were decriminalized across the territory with the adoption of the Jordanian Penal Code of 1951. In the Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip and under Hamas' rule, however, no such initiative was implemented.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ministry of Women and Child Development</span> Ministry of the Government of India

The Ministry of Women and Child Development, a branch of the Government of India, is an apex body for formulation and administration of the rules and regulations and laws relating to women and child development in India. The current minister for the Ministry of Women and Child Development is Smriti Irani having held the portfolio since 31 May 2019.

People of the Palestinian territories—the West Bank and the Gaza Strip—are bound by differing laws that handle marital unions on the basis of the couple's national status and religious affiliation. After the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the Palestinian residents of the Jordanian-annexed West Bank and the Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip became subject to Jordanian marriage law and Egyptian marriage law, respectively. After the 1967 Arab–Israeli War, which saw Israel capture the Palestinian territories from Jordan and Egypt, those original laws largely remained in place.

Association Najdeh (AN) is a NGO involved with development and educational projects in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. It operates more exactly in and around the refugee camps. It defends the Palestinian refugee women who are often victims of discriminations and also participates in different campaigns, in coalitions of local and international organizations, for the right to work in Lebanon and the right of return to Palestine.

The Mongolian Gender Equality Center(MGEC) is a non-governmental organization based in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, established in 2002 to fight the growing crime of human trafficking in Mongolia, with a focus on protecting young women and girls, the primary group affected.

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, is a United Nations entity charged with working for gender equality and the empowerment of women. UN Women is charged with advocating for the rights of women and girls, and focusing on a number of issues, including violence against women and violence against LGBT people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaza Community Mental Health Programme</span> Organization based in Palestine

The Gaza Community Mental Health Programme is the leading Palestinian non-governmental organization which provides mental health services to the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip. The organization's stated purpose is committed to aid women, children, and victims of violence, torture, and human rights violations. The organization has over 135 employees, is involved with 18 international, regional and local coalitions and networks, and has treated over 20,000 clients.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women in Palestine</span> Overview of the lives of women in Palestine

The lives of Palestinian women have transformed throughout many historical changes including Ottoman control, the British Mandate, and Israeli control. The founding of the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1964 and the later establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1994 also played a role in redefining the roles of women in Palestine and across the Palestinian diaspora. Arab women have been involved in resistance movements in Palestine, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century.

The Secretary's Office of Global Women's Issues is located within the United States Department of State. In 2009, Melanne Verveer was appointed to be the first Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues. From September 2013 to May, 2017, Catherine M. Russell was appointed to this position. From May 2017 through December 2019, there was no ambassador for this office. Kelley Currie, a political appointee, joined the Global Women's Issues Office as U.S. Ambassador-at-Large in January 2020. Geeta Rao Gupta is the current Ambassador-at-Large for the office as of May 18, 2023.

SAWA is a Palestinian, non-profit civil society organization established in 1998 by a group of female volunteers active in women's issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">May Sabai Phyu</span> Kachin activist from Myanmar

May Sabai Phyu is a Kachin activist from Burma. She is active in promoting human rights, freedom of expression, peace, justice for Myanmar's ethnic minorities, anti-violence in Kachin State, and lately in combating violence against women and promoting gender equality issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Children in emergencies and conflicts</span>

Conflicts and emergencies around the world pose detrimental risks to the health, safety, and well-being of children. There are many different kinds of conflicts and emergencies, for example, violence, armed conflicts, war, and natural disasters. Some 13 million children are displaced by armed conflicts and violence around the world. Where violent conflicts are the norm, the lives of young children are significantly disrupted and their families have great difficulty in offering the sensitive and consistent care that young children need for their healthy development. One impact is the high rates of PTSD seen in children living with natural disasters or chronic conflict.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gender equality in Azerbaijan</span>

Gender equality in Azerbaijan is guaranteed by the country's constitution and legislation, and an initiative is in place to prevent domestic violence. Azerbaijan ratified a United Nations convention in 1995, and a Gender Information Center opened in 2002. A committee on women's issues was established in 1998.

Foreign aid for gender equality in Jordan includes programs funded by governments or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that aim to empower women, close gender based gaps in opportunity and experience, and promote equal access to education, economic empowerment, and political representation in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Halima Ali Adan</span> Somali activist

Halima Ali Adan is a Somali gender rights activist and an expert on female genital mutilation (FGM). She is national co-chair of the Gender Based Violence (GBV) working group and program manager for Save Somali Women and Children (SSWC), a non-profit humanitarian organization based in Somalia.

Reem Omar Frainah, most commonly known as Reem Frainah, is a Palestinian human rights activist. She is also the executive director of Aisha Association for Woman and Child Protection.

The Women's Center for Legal Aid and Counseling (WCLAC) is an independent Palestinian, non-profit, non-governmental organization active in East Jerusalem and throughout the West Bank. Founded in 1991 by Maha Abu Dayyeh, WCLAC holds special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

References

  1. "Aisha Association for Woman and Child protection". 17 January 2016. Archived from the original on 5 November 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  2. "Aisha Association for Woman and Child Protection Robbed". Palestinian Center for Human Rights . January 17, 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2016.