Interpal

March 8, 2011 marks the Global Centenary Year of the International Women’s Day, a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. This day dawned on women in the Gaza Strip with them continuing to face a multitude of difficulties and extreme challenges.

Women in the Gaza Strip face great hardship. There are more than 1,645 girls or women who are disabled. This figure represents 37.4% of the total number of the disabled in the

Strip. Conversely, statistics show that the number of female students in education are on the increase numbering about 11,9513 (or 52.4%) compared to the total number of 22,7908 students. Unfortunately due to the poverty rate in the Gaza Strip being as high as 80% with per capita income being less than £400, the average university fees of about £300 per semester is beyond the means of a great majority of young women.

Add to this is the growing number of widows who make up 6.4% of the female population. Given the abysmal economic situation in the Gaza Strip, widows face great difficulties both economically and psycho-socially.

Interpal recently attended a briefing given by Mr. Z. Ali Dalal of UNRWA’s Barrier Monitoring Unit (BMU). The meeting was hosted by the Welfare Association.

The BMU is mandated to document the impact of the West Bank Barrier that is projected to be 709km long, of which 420km has already been built. The BMU is the first project of its kind to institutionalise Barrier monitoring and is unique in its combination of the humanitarian and sustainable development approaches. Moving forwards, the BMU is also developing a comprehensive advocacy strategy.

The BMU’s aims are as follows:

1. to fill gaps in service provision by helping to improve programming in Barrier-affected communities,
2. to document the Barrier’s impacts in historical terms,
3. to strengthen advocacy for Palestinians who have been impacted by the Barrier, and
4. to build capacity to strengthen the monitoring mechanisms of local institutions, in preparation for eventual handover.

In early February, in partnership with UNRWA, Interpal distributed a consignment of 19 containers of canned Qurbani 2010 meat to refugees in the Gaza Strip. The distribution of the meat took place at the Tuffah Branch of UNRWA’s funding centre and was part of Interpal’s ‘Eidul-Adha/Qurbani Meat Project which helps to provide added nutritional value to the diet of refugees in need.

Interpal has sponsored the biggest annual event for disabled persons in the Gaza Strip. The 6th Annual Creative Forum for the Disabledwas implemented in cooperation with the University College of Applied Sciences, Gaza. It included workshops, open days, medical open days when free services were provided and exhibitions of works created and produced by disabled persons. Hundreds of participants and more than 40 organisations working with the disabled took part.

The recent war on Gaza has left a legacy of maimed and permanently injured men, women and children whose suffering continues long after the ceasefire. The disabled often live on the fringes of society and Interpal is committed to providing support for them in its areas of operation. In the past year Interpal has provided funds to purchase land on which to build a centre for disabled children and young adults in Jordan and sent wheelchairs as well as mobility scooters to the Gaza Strip.

Interpal welcomes the recent announcement by the Department for International Development (DfID) that it has agreed to £1.5 million in new funding for UNRWA-Lebanon in response to the United Nations appeal to provide urgent support for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.

In October last year, the “End Water Poverty” campaign unveiled its plans for “World Water Day 2011”, which include The World Walks for Water Campaign. It is a global event from 19-22 March 2011 that aims to raise awareness of the world’s current water and sanitation crisis, and ‑ critically ‑ demand strong government action to stop the needless deaths of 4,000 children every day due to a lack of clean water.

The BDS movement calls for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel until it complies with International law and Universal Principles of Human Rights. It was first initiated on 9 July 2005 by 171 Palestinian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and has grown and has been endorsed internationally since then.

The Birmingham charity dinner last Saturday 29 January 2011 organised by Interpal’s Birmingham office proved to be a successful community event. Over 450 people attended the dinner and raised over £24,000 for Interpal’s Medical Aid projects especially in the Gaza Strip.