Madarat Organizes a Community Dialogue and Accountability Session in Talouza

Nablus – Talouza:
Madarat Center for Community Development organized a community dialogue and accountability session yesterday at the Talouza Village Council headquarters, for the village councils of Talouza, An-Nasariya, Al-Far’a, Al-Badhan, and the Northern Asira Municipality. The session was attended by the heads and members of the councils, along with representatives from active women’s organizations in the area.

The session is part of the “Support and Enhance Women’s Participation” project, implemented in partnership with the Central Elections Commission and funded by the European Union.

The session primarily focused on assessing the commitment of the winning electoral lists in these areas to their electoral platforms regarding women’s issues. The discussion covered what has been implemented and what remains unfulfilled, the relationship between these councils and the women’s sector, and the challenges and difficulties faced in their collaborative efforts.

Mr. Firas Jarrar, a representative of the Central Elections Commission, participated in the session and provided insights into statistics and facts regarding women’s roles in municipal and village councils. He emphasized the need for increasing awareness and educational programs to elevate women’s roles in decision-making within local authorities, which often include promises to improve their status. He pointed out the necessity for women to insistently demand an active role in decision-making within their local councils.

Representatives from the “Youth Civil Accountability Team”, stemming from the Rasid Palestine Institutions Coalition, participated in the session as well, with members from Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarm, Salfit, and Qalqilya. They presented interventions and questions to all the attending councils, reviewing their electoral platforms concerning women’s issues: where they succeeded, where they failed, and the extent of their commitment to electoral promises on the ground.

Women’s organizations that participated in the session urged the council heads and members to keep the doors of local authorities open for dialogue and to regularly include them in discussions to improve the status of women, particularly stressing the importance of recognizing permanent local women’s accountability committees representing women in each area.