Nablus, West Bank, Palestine

The aim of the project is to improve the quality of life of women in Nablus through their professional integration and gender mainstreaming in the public policies of Nablus City Council. Hèlia is the applicant for the project.

The project is being implemented in Palestine and Catalonia. In Palestine, we support women with university and higher education from Nablus in their job search to increase their real chances of finding skilled employment. We do this by strengthening their professional and personal skills and training them in rights, entrepreneurship and leadership skills. The job placement process includes paid internships in Nablus civil society organisations and coordination with Nablus City Council. We continue to support Nablus City Council in mainstreaming the gender perspective in the city’s public policies. We do this by implementing the recommendations of the Gender Audit carried out by Nablus City Council in 2020 and following up on them. In Catalonia, the project includes preparing a report that analyses the situation of Palestinian women and awareness-raising activities to spread information about issues affecting the public, as well as an exchange of job placement experiences between women in Nablus and Barcelona.

The project includes the following services:

• Trainings (professionals, in rights, and in leadership and competences) and accompaniment to women entitled to Nablus in order to maximize their professional integration into the local labour market.
• Gender training in Nablus City Council staff to consolidate gender perspective in municipal public policies.
• Sensibilization (in the situation of Palestinian women): aimed at citizenship in Catalonia and international.

Forsat Intilaq. Helping Palestinian women to find work documents the joint work done by the Associació Hèlia, and the Women’s Studies Center (WSC) in Nablus (West Bank, Palestine) to advance women’s empowerment. Through the testimonies of various psychosocial care professionals, we know the programme that supports them in their transition from academia to the local job market, and we know first-hand the impact that training and internships have had on their lives. WSC colleagues tell us about the Forsat Intilaq programme and the work they are doing with Nablus City Council to advance gender mainstreaming at the municipal level in one of the most conservative areas of the West Bank.