Annual Report - Palestinian Center for Human Rights

4.1) Participation in the Preparation of Preliminary NGOs Report on Israel’s
Implementation of CEDAW in the OPT
The unit, representing PCHR, contributed to the production of this report in
cooperation with al-Haq Institution and the Women’s Center for Legal and Social
Consultation. The report, which was submitted to the preparatory working group in
January 2005, included issues to which CEDAW applies, including violence against
women, female prisoners, restrictions on movement, family reunion, rural women and
house demolitions.
Means of Verification
o The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women raised a
number of questions with Israel concerning issues included in the report, including
the impacts of closures, curfews, restrictions on movement and the impacts of the
destruction of schools’ infrastructure on the rights of girls to Education. It also
demanded that Israel provide statistics on the education of girls in the OPT and the
measures it has taken to provide them with the opportunity to have access to
educational institutions in the context of the continuing conflict, the increased
violence and the construction of the Annexation Wall in the OPT.
o The Committee also asked Israel about the impacts of closures and curfews on the
access of Palestinian civilians to medical care, food and water.
4.2) Participation in Local Activities
The unit staff members participated in a number of local meetings, workshops and
conferences that it was invited to attend:
1. On 7 March, unit lawyer Hanan Matar participated in activities organized by the
College of Media at al-Aqsa University in Gaza City on International Women’s
Day. She talked about the legal issues relating to the problem of violence against
women.
2. On 7 March, unit lawyer Sameer Hasaniya participated in a public meeting
organized by the Voice of the Society on Family Law.
3. On 1 July, the unit director attended a meeting that gathered a number of
governmental and non-governmental organizations with Professor Paolo Sergio,
the UN Representative on Violence against Children. She submitted an
intervention on the subject of early marriage in Palestinian society as a form of
violence against girls.
4. On 20 November, the unit head participated in a workshop organized by the
Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the United Nations Development Fund for
Women (UNIFEM) on past achievements and future aspirations of women’s
organizations. She was the facilitator for the session on women’s rights.
Following the workshop, the unit head met with the Minister of Women’s Affairs,
Zaheera Kamal, briefed her on the unit’s activities and discussed future
cooperation and coordination between the unit and the ministry.
5. On 7 December, the unit head submitted a working paper on the political and
social rights of women between locality and universality at a conference on future
visions of political participation, which was organized by the Voice of the Society.
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