“Issues of Democracy and Human Rights” awareness sessions carried out by Pal-Think in Gaza Strip
As part of the project “Enhancing Civil Society Role to Support Palestinian Elections” funded by the Government of Canada, Pal-Think continues implementing awareness sessions about democracy and human rights. It targets young people and different groups of society. These sessions were carried out in cooperation with a range of civil society institutions in all the provinces of the Gaza Strip.
One of those sessions was at Charity Alnajt Association in Khan Younis entitled “Women’s political participation.” It addressed the most important aspects in which women can participate in to develop society, primarily political participation and her contribution in decision-making, which are an integral part of the theory of democracy and the most important tools for achieving it.
The session entitled “Participation of Youth and Women in the Elections” was carried out in Rafah in cooperation with Mojadidoon Charity Development Association for Youth Support. The participants who were university graduates spoke about the challenges that the youth and women face which prevent their participation in the political, economic, social, legal and educational aspects. They highlighted the statistics showing the depth of the contradiction between what is on the ground and what is intended. The participants also talked about how much the youth group looked forward to achieving the buried elections which they hoped would play a greater role in achieving the results that would, in turn, solve the crises of Palestinian society, achieve the goals of youth and provide them with the opportunities and possibilities to contribute to the development of their society.
Another session was held in cooperation with Kotof EL-Khair Association in the middle province about “Human Rights Principals”. The most important concepts and definitions of human rights have been discussed as well as its development by various times including civil, political, social, cultural and other rights. They also talked about the principles of human rights in terms of individual and collective rights, the characteristics of these rights and the most important international human rights instruments.
In Gaza province, another session was carried out entitled “The right to access information” in cooperation with The Society of Women Graduates of the Gaza Strip. It discussed the legal framework for free access to information, the basic principles relating to the right to information including the accessibility of information from the authorities authorized to be published, and the exceptions to which should not be published. It also talked about the effect of the absence of the Right to access Information and the institutions involved in the delivery of information in Palestine.
The session entitled “Youth and Volunteering” was carried out in the northern Gaza province in collaboration with the Milad association for youth skills development. A group of young community volunteers and graduates looking to volunteer attended. It was about the importance of community action and its success factors by changing social needs. Young people talked about their volunteer work and its forms, the role of volunteering in establishing strong relationships and improving social and professional skills for young people. Participants also discussed the types of services provided by community work institutions, and how young people define their volunteer capacities according to community work.
These meetings were carried out by a group of young people graduates of the training program entitled “Promoting youth political participation and disseminating the concepts of democracy.” It was implemented in the first phase of the project to train young people to transmit information and contribute to raising awareness on democracy and human rights issues.
The designations employed and the representation of material in these meetings do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Government of Canada.”
