WOMEN AND FAMILY AFFAIRS CENTER

An independent Palestinian women's organization.

In 1988, empowered by the Palestinian women's movement during the first Intifada, the Women's Affairs Center was established at the initiative of the novelist Sahar Khalifa. Other independent women's organizations followed, staying outside the control of Palestinian political parties. The center's founding committee included Rita Giacaman, Rema Hammami, Islah Jad, Sahar Khalifa, and Amal Nashashibi. The board include some prominent educated women, mainly from Nablus city. The center was established as a women's research and training organization. In 1991, it opened a branch under the same name in Gaza City. In 1994, the steering committee formally separated the two centers and the Nablus center became the Women and Family Affairs Center. Another branch was opened in Amman (Jordan) but did not last long. The center produced a few issues of a journal, Women's Affairs, before it ceased publication. The center works to promote women's rights and gender equality within Palestinian society, and its main mandate is in the city of Nablus. It has no relations with Israelis. It focuses on training and advocacy to promote women's rights. It is difficult to measure the impact of its efforts due to the political instability of the times. The center coordinates some of its activities with other nongovernmental organizations in Nablus, but it has no formal links with the Palestinian Authority and depends on external funding.

see also gaza strip; gender: gender and education; intifada (1987–1991); oslo accord (1993); palestine; palestinian authority; west bank.

islah jad