‘Gender participation among youth in Hebron’
Internship report by Helene Hjortholm Rasmussen
Supervisor: Vibeke Andersson
Global Refugee Studies, Aalborg University
1
Table of Contents
1.
Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 3
2.
Problem formulation .......................................................................................................... 3
3.
Methodology ...................................................................................................................... 3
3.1.
Project design .............................................................................................................. 4
3.2.
Information Gathering and Methodological Approach ............................................... 4
3.3.
The interviews ............................................................................................................. 5
3.4.
Limitations .................................................................................................................. 6
4.
Introduction to Hebron, West Bank, oPt ........................................................................... 7
5.
ActionAid ........................................................................................................................... 8
6.
My experience with ActionAid Palestine ........................................................................ 10
7.
Youth in oPt ..................................................................................................................... 11
8.
Women in oPt .................................................................................................................. 11
9.
Gender .............................................................................................................................. 12
10.
Analysis......................................................................................................................... 12
10.1 Skills improvement ...................................................................................................... 13
10.2 The organisation ........................................................................................................... 13
10.3 Trust and security ......................................................................................................... 15
10.4 The decision-maker ...................................................................................................... 16
10.5 Different domains ......................................................................................................... 17
10.6 The husband, marriage and age .................................................................................... 17
10.7 Tradition and area of implementation .......................................................................... 18
10.8 Vulnerability and decision-making .............................................................................. 19
10.9 Moving for a better world ........................................................................................... 21
11.
Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 22
13.
Appendix A -Interview guide ....................................................................................... 24
14.
Appendix B- Interviewee overview .............................................................................. 25
15.
Appendix C – Interviews .............................................................................................. 27
16.
Bibliography ................................................................................................................. 27
16.1 Texts ............................................................................................................................. 27
16.2. Internet ........................................................................................................................ 28
2
1. Introduction
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is a focal point in terms of conflict,
especially the last year the MENA has region drawn much attention the world wide with the
‘Arab spring’ and its uprising youth who fights for democracy and human rights. Despite in
many ways being a rich region the living condition are for many poor and characterized by
violence and instability. In the MENA region the youth between the age of 15-24 constitutes
the largest age group among the population, representing more than one third of the total
population of the region and population forecasts shows that the coming years will contain
the largest youth generation ever(PRB,2007:p.8). ActionAid Denmark has since 2009 been
implementing its youth program: “Building Bridges for Youth Action Programme” in the
MENA region(MS4). The programme focus on political empowerment, participation, and the
development of local democracy, and thereby addresses the present needs of the region very
precisely. A special vulnerable group among the young people is women, suffering under
both juridical and social restrictions. In 2005 The Arab Human Development Report
addressed gender inequality as one of the most significant obstacles to human development in
the Arab region(AHDR,2005:p.79). Although the paradigm of women’s right and gender
inequality has not gone unnoticed in the Arab world, although the proportion of women
representatives in Arab parliaments still remain under 10%, making it the lowest in the
world- and this is despite of quotas for female parliamentarians in a number of Arab
countries(UNDP,2006:8). This report will be an anthropological analysis of young women’s
participation in projects dealing with decision-making in the occupied Palestinian
territories(oPt).
2. Problem formulation
“Why are ActionAid Denmark experiencing a lack of participation among young women in
Hebron?”
3. Methodology
This section will provide an overview of the structure of the report, utilizing the
methodological procedure used and how theoretical approaches and ActionAid programme
concepts have been applied.
3
3.1.
Project design
To provide an overview of the report and its structure, I have chosen to divide the report into
eight chapters. The following section will present and explain the purpose of each chapter.
The introduction aims to clarify the relevance of the report and give the reader a brief
contextual understanding of the area and culture, in which the research have been undertaken.
The introduction leads to the problem formulation, which clarify the exact aim of the
analysis.
The third chapter consists of the methodology of the report. In order to answer the problem
formulation it is important to understand which methodological considerations and decisions
the project-analysis are based on. This chapter aims to clarify the methodological framework
of the project including information-gathering methods, the methodological approach, use of
programmatic and theoretical concepts and the limitation of the report.
This will be followed by a brief introduction to the area of research. In order to answer the
problem formulation it is essential to understand under which circumstances the Palestinians
live.
The fifth chapter will introduce you to ActionAid, the different branches of ActionAid in the
oPt, and the work and aim of ActionAid Denmark’s Youth Programme in oPt. There will
also be a chapter providing a description of my work with ActionAid, including reflections
about the challenges I met during my internship.
Since ‘youth’ and ‘women’ are essential keywords in my problem formulation, I have chosen
to dedicate a chapter to respectively ‘Youth in oPt’ and ‘Women in oPt’. These chapters will
introduce the reader to the social status and living conditions of young people and women in
the oPt.
The tenth chapter will be an analysis of the interviews supplied by research material,
investigating why there is a lack of girl-participation in ActionAid Denmark’s Youth
Programme.
The final chapter, the conclusion, will be a summary of the results found in the analysis.
3.2.
Information Gathering and Methodological Approach
This report is meant to be a anthropological analysis of young women’s participation in
decision-making projects in Hebron, guided by the inductive tradition of social research,
4
where the main source of information will be interviews with girls from Hebron. It will
however, be supplied with both data and literature from various sources. Firsthand data,
includes ActionAid’s programme- and strategic documents, as well as quantitative data from
the field. Secondary sources include official reports published by the ‘Arab Human
Development Index’(AHDI), ‘Human Development Report oPt’(HDR) and ‘Sharek Youth
Forum’. There will also be included second-hand literature from researchers in gender, youth,
empowerment and participation. Finally I have myself been participating and engaging in the
implementation of ActionAid DK’s youth programme the last 6 month and have thereby in
numerous occasions compiled firsthand, empirical data.
This report is meant to be an empirical guided analysis, therefore the main focus of the
analysis will be on the interviews. Concepts will only be presented in order to understand the
approach of ActionAid Denmark, and theoretical approaches and academic literature will
only be included in order to understand the issues brought up by the interviewees. This report
does not in any way intend to make a theoretical discussion or analysis about youth, gender
or participatory approaches.
3.3.
The interviews
Where qualitative data or observation can clarify the unconscious actions and structures in
society, whereas qualitative interviews have the advances of giving an insight in the mind of the
individual. Qualitative interviews thereby offers explanations to behaviour, choices and patterns
in the subject’s everyday life(Kvale & Brinkmann,2009:17). It gives us the opportunity to gain
knowledge about and understanding of the young women’s actions, motives as well as their
experience with participating in projects. Qualitative research do also open up to a more complex
analysis of women’s participation, giving space not only to examinate the influencing factors,
but also how they interact with each other(Christensen et al. 2007: p.61).
The interviewees have been selected so they represent the different types of young women in
Hebron. The interviews thereby consist of interviewees from the villages of Hebron, Hebron City,
different age-groups and different organisations. Some being a from local partner organisations, some
from ActionAid itself, and other independent from these organisations. An overview of the
interviewees, their background and a more detailed explanation of why they were chosen as
interviewees can be found in appendix B. Although, I have selected the interviewees to represent
different types of young women, it should be emphasized that this does not make the conclusion of
this report statistic representative(De Vaus,2001: p.240).
5
Staying true to the anthropological tradition of qualitative interviews, this report regards the
interviewees as being ‘experts’ in the field of young women’s participation in NGO-projects
(Kvale & Brinkmann,2009:p.240-242). Because of this have the interviews only been semistructured(see appendix A); giving the interviewee a role as a co-player in the interviews, and
trusting that they will bring out the necessary information. The interviewees were briefed
about the purpose of the report before starting the interviews, as well as they were debriefed
by the end of the interview. This is to prevent misunderstandings and make sure that all
important aspects are being included(Kvale & Brinkmann,2009:p.148-149). Giving the
position as experts in their field, I use the interviews as an opportunity to verify the
tendencies that I have observed in my field-studies, as well as in the secondary data(Kvale &
Brinkmann,2009: p.43).
Qualitative research is conducted by people focusing on people, including a personal contact
between the researcher and the object of the analysis. Thereby, the research is not intended to
distance itself from the area of research in the same way as in quantitative research(Antoft et.
al.,2007:pp.14-15). It will opposite always leave a person mark on the research, and the
results there is being produced(Ibid). The interviewees have been interacting with me before
the start of this research, as well as they are familiar with my job with ActionAid and the
activities we engage in. As a qualitative researcher there is an individual responsibility to
capture the variations, complexity and the exact values needed to produce valid results. This
does not mean that I have been uncritical when doing the research, it simply requires to apply
another form of principles(Brinkmann et al.,2009: pp.170-174). As well as I did not pretend
to be independent of any organisation or perspective, I also allowed myself to ask
‘provoking’ questions, if I felt it was needed in the situation to receive a fulfilling
answer(Kvale & Brinkmann 2009:pp.194-196). I did however, make sure to create a trustful
environment, be open minded, and let the interviewees know that I was asking out of
curiosity and not out of prejudices.
3.4.
Limitations
Due to the limitations of the report in relation to space and time, and challenges met during
the period of empirical data collection, I have been forced to prioritize and exclude otherwise
interesting perspectives.
One of biggest limitation is related of the anthropological tradition of qualitative research and
the interviews. The problem formulation ask why there is a lack of young women’s
6
participation but it will mainly be answered from the perspective of the young women in
Hebron. Alternatively this situation could be analysed from a more structural perspective,
including the unconscious level of restrictions and behaviour as fx. Pierre Bourdieu works
with in his ‘Maskuline domination’(Bourdieu, 2001). It would also have been interesting to
analyse this from the perspective of the organisations, including their working methods and
approaches by fx. discussing the mismatch between a special focus on women’s
empowerment and the participatory approach in ActionAid’s youth programme. Concepts
such as ‘gender’ and ‘participation’ have a substantial amount of literature and research enough
to warrant its own separate analysis- It would have be interesting to analyse the same area of
research from a theoretical, and maybe feministic, approach. It is however not in the scope of this
report, but relevant suggestions for further research. This report can also make the foundation of a
more extended research, with the opportunity of collecting more quantitative data in shape of
questionnaires and data about the out-reach of the programme. This is currently not possible since
I have no available data about the amount of girls initially contacted and invited to participate in
ActionAid’s projects.
Social traditions and freedom of movement have been affecting the empirical data-collection.
I had fx. to cancel several interviews because of snow in Hebron; not because of difficulties
in transport, but because of the social reaction to snow: total shut down of the city including
schools, shops and official activities. An example of limitation of freedom is a military takeover of Al Arroub refugee-camp by the Israeli army.
Language has been an obstacle in the information gathering. The interviewees have been
offered a translator, but the fact that most interviews are in English might hamper the
accuracy of their answers and their understanding of my questions.
Disturbance as power-shut downs and long working hours have also influenced the flow of
the project.
4. Introduction to Hebron, West Bank, oPt
The West Bank is divided into three different administrative zones according to the 1993
Oslo Accords. Area A which contains 55% of the West bank inhabitants and is under the
Palestinian Authority(PA) control regarding both security and administration, and includes all
Palestinian cities and their surrounding areas, with no Israeli settlements, and comprises only
3% of the West Bank(MS5:pp2-3). Area 'B' is under the PA control for civil administration
7
but under Israeli control for security; this area includes most Palestinian towns and villages,
with no Israeli settlements, and constitutes 25% of the West Bank(Ibid). Area 'C' comprises
more than 70% of the West Bank and is under full Israeli civil and security control: it
includes all Israeli settlements, most roadways that connect settlements as well as strategic
areas designated as "security zones”(Ibid). Most of ActionAid Palestine’s project are being
implemented in B and C areas.
ActionAid Palestine works with an area based approach which means that ActionAid only
implements project in Hebron Governorate. Hebron is like the rest of oPt suffer from the
Israeli occupation, Hebron differs however from other areas by having four Israeli
settlements placed in the middle of Hebron City(Ibid). Hebron is the largest city and most
conservative area in the West Bank, known for its strong presence of Hamas supporters.
Hebron city is by the 1997 Hebron Protocol divided into two areas. H1, which cover most of
Hebron city, houses around 140.000 Palestinians and is under the limited autonomy of the
Palestinian Authority(Ibid). H2 is centred in downtown Hebron and is under full Israeli
military control. It houses around 30.000 Palestinians and around 500-600 illegal Israeli
settlers and corresponding 2000 Israeli soldiers to safeguard the Israeli settlers(Ibid). This
area are known for its numerous checkpoints, road closures and the daily settler harassment
of Palestinians. Palestinians are required to register with the Israeli military to access their
homes in H2.
The Palestinians do in general suffer from military security in shape of restriction of
movements, house-demolitions and security checks such as house-searches. They also suffer
from limited water resources, electricity shut downs and restriction on building projects,
including health centres and schools, caused by the Israelis. Furthermore Palestinians do
struggle with unbalanced law circumstances being under ‘war-law’ upper site to Israelis who
are under civil law(Web1). Israel furthermore do not refrain from the use of torture- research
shows that 95% of all Palestinians detained by Israelis have been exposed to torture or
inhumane treatment(PM,2008).
5. ActionAid
ActionAid is the world fifth biggest NGO and present in more than 40 countries(Web2). Its
main goal is to end poverty and it primarily works with Education, HIV/AIDS, Governance,
8
Food rights, Women’s right, Climate change, Emergencies and Conflicts. In 2008
Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke merge with ActionAid International and became ActionAid
Denmark(Web3). ActionAid Denmark is running projects in Africa, Central America and the
Middle East and North Africa. In the MENA region ActionAid Denmark implements the
“Building Bridges for Youth Action Programme” and are currently present in Jordan, oPt,
Lebanon and Egypt. The programmes overall objective is to: “Enhanced capacity of youth in
the MENA region to participate in democratic reform processes and intercultural dialogue
and understanding between youth in Denmark and the MENA region”(MS2:p.4). ActionAid
Denmark work to achieve this objective through supporting intercultural projects between
Denmark and the MENA region, through ActionAid International’s Inspirator programme,
tranings, ActionAid Denmarks volunteer programme and by implementing local projects
working directly towards enhancing youth participation. This report will however only focus
on ActionAid Denmark’s local projects in oPt.
ActionAid in Palestine consist of ActionAid Denmark and ActionAid Australia; who similar
to ActionAid Denmark merge with ActionAid International in 2009(Web4). ActionAid
Australia works with microcredit, livelihood and women empowerment and are officially
hosting ActionAid Denmark in oPt. Since ActionAid International works with an button-up
approach are ActionAid Denmark and Australia currently working on a merge which will
allow them to become ActionAid Palestine. Currently the two organizations are however
running their programmes independently from each other.
The youth program in oPt is structured along the lines of the ActionAid Denmark’s areabased approach, ActionAid International’s Human Rights Based approach, ActionAid
Denmark’s MENA strategy and Gender Strategy(MS1,MS2;MS3). ActionAid Denmark’s
target group in oPt are youth in the age of 14-25 years, youth organizations and youth groups
as well as local decision makers in the target area Hebron(MS3:p9). ActionAid work with a
participatory approach, why ActionAid together with their partner organisations only set the
frame of the projects, and by training and communication support the youth itself in locating
and addressing their needs(MS3). The keyword of ActionAid Denmark’s work are ‘social
change’ which they try to reach by four means: ‘Civic Engagement, Civic Education,
Responsiveness of Local Government and Human capacity building of civil society
organizations’(MS3:p.9). Being based on a human rights-based approach, all ActionAid’s
projects address rights, rights violations and civil responsibility. ActionAid Denmark
9
proclaims to adopt a gender-sensitive or transformative approach in all projects; being aware
of the gender unequality in oPt, ActionAid have made a strategy on how to address these
issues and include both genders(See chapter ‘Gender’).
6. My experience with ActionAid Palestine
ActionAid Denmark relies significantly much on their interns and working as a programme
assistant at ActionAid was more the experience of working as a country coordinator. With
my boss from ActionAid Denmark placed in Jordan and no other employees in oPt than the
previous intern, where my partner intern, the newly hired programme officer and I were in
full charge for the youth programme in oPt. From the first meeting with my boss, she made it
clear that I had a lot to say in the procedure and that disagreements were welcome and her
saying should not necessarily be interpreted as law. My work was consisted of three different
roles. The first was as the volunteer coordinator, supporting Danish volunteers during their
placement in the West Bank- including identifying appropriate partners and host-families, do
country briefings and assist and support them in their stay, but also to do more administrative
work as adapting contracts, manage visa requirements etc. My other role was a mediator
between ActionAid Denmark and ActionAid Austraila, updating both departments and
making sure to coordinate between the different programmes. My last and most timerequiring role was as a project coordinator developing and monitoring project activities,
managing partnership with local partners, recruiting local staff, developing concept notes and
interacting with civil society including everything from different municipalities, CBOs,
family- and religious leaders.
I did to my surprise not meet any challenges in relation to my age, gender and nationality.
Not being able to speak Arabic complicated my work a great deal, making me depended on a
translator at all times. My biggest challenge was the workload- and taking into consideration
that I do not have any prior experience with program management, were the burden and
responsibility placed on my shoulders unreasonable. I did however have the best colleague
and friend; the newly hired programme officer. With her patience, cultural understanding and
experience, we did together managed to overcome every challenge. I am however surprise of
the great responsibility ActionAid gives their interns compared to the little introduction we
have been given before starting work. There was no introduction to the fundamental concepts
10
and approaches of ActionAid and the handover lasted one and a half day with the previous
intern.
7. Youth in oPt
In Palestine children and young people under the age of 15 constitute almost half of the
population. In 2009 Sharek Youth Forum did a thorough analysis of the youth life in
Palestine(Sharek,2009). The report addressed human rights abuses caused by Israeli
occupation and internal rights violations as the main problems facing Palestinian youth(Ibid).
It stated that there is a major lack of trust in the formal political system and authorities,
especially caused by the internal political division with Fatah and Hamas as main
actors(Ibid). The tendency is youth withdrawal from political, social and civic participation.
The youth do also struggle with limited venues for social participation and exclusion from
civil society and local decision making especially caused by structural limitations(Ibid).
Among the youth are young women the most affected group. The report also addresses
problems such as high youth unemployment rate and a mismatch between the labour market
and the educational system(Ibid). Furthermore is a large number of the Palestinian youth
refugees- in total the oPt host 1.9 million refugees(web5).
8. Women in oPt
Women in the oPt are in general better represented compared to many of the other countries
in the region. Women and men are almost equally represented in intuitions of higher
education, although their choice of carrier often are restrict to specific areas which do not
offer the same employment opportunities; women thereby only occupy 15,2% of the job
market(HDR,2010:p.38). Marriage are one of the main reason for school- and work dropouts,
and the average age for marriage in the oPt is 19 years for women(HDR,2010:p.45). A main
obstacle in regards to marriage is the women’s reproductive role as well as their role as careworkers in the home. Due to the Islamic conservatism especially in areas such as refugee
camps, villages and Hebron city women are restricted in their dressing and socialization with
males. The social norm traditionally grants women the private sphere, whereas public
appearance are much more male dominated. The Palestinian families are characterized by a
patriarchal hierarchy and strict rules for female behaviour(MS3:p.6).
11
Since Palestinian law is not unified, the Palestinian woman are subject to a mixture of
Ottoman, British Mandate, Jordanian, Egyptian, Sharia, International and Israeli military
laws(HDR,2010:p.47). Palestinian women are especially discriminated in law governing
marriage, divorce, custody of children, inheritance and violence- and are not in general
recognized as full persons before the courts as witnesses(HDR,2010:p.45). Furthermore
should it be emphasized that disagreements, disputes or need for protection often are settled
by tribal or family law by the leading clan head(Mukhtar) in the community and that these
social laws and rulings often are preserved as being more powerful(DCAF,200: p. 41)
9. Gender
Gender have since the seventies steadily become a visible issue in development work. One of
the first to start the gender debate were ‘Women in Development’(WID), later followed by
‘Gender in Development’(GAD); you can however easily state that since the UN’s fourth
‘World Conference on Women’ in Beijing in 1995 have gender and gender equality been on
the donors agenda, making it a high priority for any NGO(Arnfred,2011:pp.46-47;
Cornwall,2003:pp.1325-1327). The term ‘gender’ do in general refer to the social differences
between females and males, it is however widely criticized that ‘gender equality’ often are
being confused with ‘women’s rights’- ActionAid Denmark is not an exception. Although
they in their different strategy-papers underline that the project activities are for both genders
and that they promote equal gender participation and rights, do they clearly favour young
women. In ActionAid Denmark’s gender strategy does it say that: ‘MS will prioritise work
that specifically raises the status of women and girls.’(MS1:p.2). That they will “explore the
need and possibilities for women-specific programmes... [and]...Put young women’s rights
and needs on the agenda in youth mobilization activities”(MS1:p.7). In the programme
strategy does it also state that ActionAid ‘support young people and especially young women
in addressing the root causes of community issues and rights violations’(MS4:p.27). When
referring to gender in this report will it thereby be understood in the terms of ActionAid
Denmark with a priority to young women.
10.Analysis
In this chapter I will analyse why ActionAid experience a lack of participation among young
women in Hebron. I have divided the analysis into smaller parts to ease the reading of the
12
report; the different parts do however have a continues flow, building on and addressing
issues from the previous part.
10.1 Skills improvement
In order to understand why some young women do not participate in NGO projects, it is
important to understand what do make them volunteer with NGOs. The young women I
interviewed mentioned two reasons to volunteer with NGO’s: the first was that it improves
their life-skills and make them more experienced and attractive to the labour market, the
second
reason
was
that
they
like
helping
people
and
develop
the
society
(Interview3:5.53,6.22; Interview2: 1.30; Interview1:0.50; Interview5:5.31). As Renad says:
“Voluntary work improves her personality and help her community to be improved. And
provide something for society and the people.”(Interview4:1.27)
The fact that the young women participate in projects to improve their skills, also reflects in
their volunteer-behaviour. All the interviewees are volunteering with more than one NGO,
and according to Rawan it is not a coincidence:
“but still, most of the youth I know they volunteer in 5-6 different CBO’s or NGO’s, so they
can grasp experience from each one of them, and have new chances to go and increase their
capacities.”(Interview3;9.40)
10.2 The organisation
That fact, that youth engaged themselves in different projects and with different NGO’s,
indicates that ‘loyalty’ to an organisation is not an important issue, nor do the interviewees
express any importance to the ideals or goals of the organisations they are working with.
When I asked if it is important what kind of organisation they were working with the answer
would be as this:
“No, of course not. Because it’s about what I want to make there. It’s not about the name of
the organisation. [It is about]What I will take or have of benefit from it.”(Interview5:9.09)
Many of the projects that NGO’s implement in Hebron include trainings, especially about
Human rights, Children’s rights and citizenship1. Also ActionAid Denmark’s projects include
a high degree of these kinds of trainings. This is reflected in several of the interviews where
1
Own observation from field mapping youth organisations in Hebron.
13
the main focus of volunteering are on the training there is being offered (Interview3,4 and 5).
Rawan says:
“I think most of them go to... Communication, Advocacy and Human rights. [...] but it’s
about what is being offered. Sometimes we have something about human rights or women’s
rights. We go just to have more experience, more information about it. But if you offer, like
the ILTS [an ActionAid training] for sure many people will come. [...] they will come, for it is
something new that they are not use to. So when you are use to just having lectures or
sessions, talking about rights or talking about advocacy.”(Interview3:6.22-7.20)
There is thereby a tendency among the girls to receive a lot of the same training, as well as it
indicates that there is a similarity among projects. Areen emphasizes in her interview that it is
important to retain the motivation of the volunteers and make them feel appreciated, because
they otherwise will lose interest and disappear again(Interview4:45). As Rawan points out
are ActionAid’s ‘Training of Trainers’(ToT) and ‘International leadership Training
Seminar’(ILTS) highly appreciated among the youth in Hebron, and ActionAid never has any
difficulties finding participants for these; opposite do ActionAid have to promote the
implementing projects of ActionAid in Hebron much more to reach the same level of
engagement2. Many of the ToT and ILTS trainings are located in Denmark or Jordan. This
support Rawan’s the claim of international NGO’s being more interesting than locals:
“Because they believe they are more experienced or more chance to go abroad and learn
something new.”(Interview3:9.30)
Other times the interviewees simply refused the idea about there being difference between
national and international NGO’s(Interview1:6.08; Interview5:9.09,10; Interview2:6.20).
Areen explains that it is more the reputation of the NGO that matters:
“The reputation of the organisation she is going to join, or have already joined is considered
a part of her. Because she works as a volunteer or an intern in this organisation, so they are
considered as one part. So a good reputation for the organisation she is working for, is a
good reputation for her.”(Interview4:21.50)
2
Own observation while recruiting people for the trainings and implementing projects.
14
10.3 Trust and security
That Areen emphasise the importance of the reputation of the organisation, matches well with
issues brought up in the other interviews. The girls explains the concern and interference
from the family and the rest of society, addressing it as being one of the biggest challenges
they face in relation to volunteer work:
“At the beginning it was SO hard. I was young when I started, but it was like a.. they were
SO worried all the time. Keep calling me, just wanted to know that I was doing. They didn’t
like I was coming here, but after a while I let them come here, and meet the president,
another people from here, My friends here, people from the teamwork and then they.. when
they saw me here, they felt comfortable; they know who I am with here.“(Interview5: 4.25)
Renad brings up trust again later in the interview, as the best way to make girls participate in
projects:
“You can start.. I think, here people look for trustful. If you start with giving you them the
trust they need to start with you, it will help them a lot.”(Interview5:16.05)
Taking this into consideration, there are several things to point out with ActionAid’s youth
programme. ActionAid’s projects are not permanent, and changes both in the character of the
projects as well as in the location and local partner. Therefore ActionAid do not own any
buildings from where they implement their projects. ActionAid is thereby a more undefined
object, and do not offer the opportunity for families or friends to come and build a trustrelationship with the organisation. As in the quote by Renad, it is important for the family to
be familiar with the organisation and its activities. Something which is also brought up in the
interview with Rawan:
“Sometimes the family don’t know what is going on, and they prevent their daughters from
participating in trainings or volunteer work[...] But sometimes the mother of the girls go with
her on the first session of the training. Then if she finds it okay, then she can go and
continue.”(Interview3:2.38,3.46)
At the moment ActionAid are new in Palestine, but maybe in time they will manage to build
up a trustworthy reputation, and the people of Hebron will get more familiar and comfortable
with ActionAid. It should also be added that ActionAid mainly are implementing projects
with NGO’s placed outside Hebron city; whereas if they were implementing projects with
15
local NGO’s who already have a good relation to the community, it would be easier for the
young women to participate in its projects.
10.4 The decision-maker
When trust is brought up as an issue, it is to a high degree because the decision about whether
to participate in projects or not, does not lie with the girl but with her family, and mainly her
father(Interview1:1.54, 4.06; Interview2:3.55, Interview3: 2.12, 3.25, Interview4:11.48).
“In general - your parents. They start with your parents ,then the old people who lives
around you or know you, f.eks. if you parents let you go, like this, maybe another people
from your family, another family will tell you, or start talking: what are you doing? Why are
you going? It is not in our tradition, or what we use to do. So it’s about your parents and
relatives- and neighbour- if you are in good relation with them.”(Interview5: 3.28)
The family do also in many ways sets limitations and rules that effect the kind of
participation as well of when or where:
“The parents prefer to have the girls to stay at home, than to participate somewhere far away
from home [...] The family have limitation on time. They have to go back at 5 or 6 or when it
gets dark, so they don’t have the same the same ability to go, to go
around.”(Interview3:0.25-0.55)
“[...] And according to herself and her ability to convene her parents or her family, if she can
affect the society to accept this idea, it’s fine, she can participate and work for that... Surely
within the suitable time, the acceptable time , she can’t be late, she can’t work extra
time.”(Interview4:11.48)
Time and travel are a repeating topic in the interviews as a challenge to participating in
projects. Although it is limitations set out by the family, it does not bother the girls, except
from Renad who express directly dissatisfaction. Opposite do the interviewees to a high
degree look at it as gender-differences(Interview1:1.52, Interview2:):
“Being a woman in Hebron or in society is beautiful. Women are involved in everything and
can do whatever they want. She consider the role as complementary to the men’s
role.”(Interview4:2.45)
16
10.5 Different domains
The gender differences are marked in different territorial domains; the boys primarily work
outside the home- in the public sphere, where the girls work from inside the home- in the
private sphere(Interview2:2.55, Interview4:16.54, Interview5:2.06,23.07). But as Rawan
explains does this not necessarily mean that they experience it as an inequality:
”Because boys they have impact on society from outside, but women have the impact inside
because they are the future mothers and they believe in what they are doing and claiming
their rights and politics, they will teach that to their children. And from there, the children
will be brought up believing these standards.”(Interview 3:11.15)
The interviewees do however not indicate that there is any differences between boys and girls
when it comes to the interests of projects, and according to Ayat and Renad is it the
same(Interview1:1.52; Interview5:8.04). Where the interests might be the same, is there
opposite a difference in what kind of projects the girls and the boys can engage
in(Interview1:1.52, 8.28; Interview3:29.32):
“Men they pay everything and they take care of their family and themselves and make the big
difference. And women support men in their role, and they can add something in society and
education and supporting cultural activities.”(Interview4:3.30)
The interviews also showed that there in general is a bigger resistance among girls
participating in NGO projects than boys(Interview4:10.31; Interview5:14.48; 21.05,
Interview3:0.25). Ayat explain it like this:
“Some families don’t like to see girls volunteer. They are ashame. Some family, some man,
some girl, they say when she is 18- she will get marriage. They don’t like see her volunteer or
work sometimes”(Interview1:4.06)
ActionAid do not have any projects only for girls, but do always include both genders. They
do however to some degree separate the girls and boys in its activities. The fact that
ActionAid are mixing the genders in their projects, might prevent young women for
participating.
10.6 The husband, marriage and age
The girls emphasize that especially marriage and the husband effect their participation:
17
“Some people think that the girl or the woman, after she get’s engaged or marriaged, she
can’t take her own decisions to participate or do anything without her husband’s
permission.”(Interview4:7.10)
Marriage has to be a first priority, which reflect back on the home as being the woman’s
domain. Where it before marriage is the girl’s family who are highly included in the decisionmaking about participating in projects, is this decision-making power at marriage being
transferred to the husband(Interview1: 4.36; Interview3:18.51, Interview5:21.38). This is
something which is reflected in the interview when discussing the importance of age:
“Actually I like being younger, I think I have more possibilities then people being older.
Because I still have the freedom to do whatever I want [...] Because I don’t got
responsibilities. Being single gives you more opportunities, because you can do things on
your decision and not others decision. But still If you are marriage and your husband agrees
to go and rehab for a while and go and travel, you can still do it.”(Interview3:22.05)
Areen elaborate this by specifying that the youth in the age of 16-24 are in need of extra
support(Interview4:5.45). It is in this age that the NGO’s can create the main change, since it
is here the girl can affect the gender role and the decision-making the most. Where she after
the age of 24 is going to be more concentred upon getting marriage and their decision-making
power will decrease(Interview4:6.40). This is being supported by the HDR which states that
even though there is more girls than boys enrolling in elementary school, the increase in
women’s education is not reflected in a corresponding of women’s participation in
professional occupations (HDR,2010:p.45). Statistics additionally shows that 86,4% of the
girls in the age of 15-19 are unmarried where on the other hand only 22,6% of the girls
between 25-29 unmarried (PCBS, 2005:p.17). This shows that although the girls are limited
in their decision-making at home, the tendency seems to be that the freedom of movement are
higher among young women, than older.
10.7 Tradition and area of implementation
Traditions were brought up as one of the main reasons why the society are resistance to girls
participating in NGO projects(Interview5:3.28: Interview3:13.25).
“Our tradition in society says that girls mustn’t participate or do this or that. So according to
tradition it’s not allowed to do that.”(Interview4: 10.58)
18
Tradition are by the girls defined as being as a way of thinking that are related to ‘the old
days’.
“It starts with the look from them, the society in general, what they think about them from old
time. What they use to see them”(Interview5:0.35)
There analysis shows there is tendency to be a strong correlation between the degree of
traditional-thinking and the area of living:
“People in villages are like holding traditions more than people here.”(Interview5:2.06)
“It becomes different dealing with citizens in the city of Hebron or the village of Al Fawar.
And there is a difference between dealing with citizen because he can accept much more
breaks of traditions, and not Al Fawar because they are committed much with tradition.”
(Interview4:15.03)
Areen points out, that a big part of the young women in Hebron are uneducated, especially in
the villages(Interview4:36.17). This is verified by statistics that shows that the rate of
illiteracy are highest among women, and especially in the rural areas where 16,6% of the
women in 2004 were unable to read(PCBS,2005:p.20). Since the main motivation factor for
volunteering are the possibility upgrading ones professional skills, does this also offer an
explanation to the lack of girls participation in villages. Areen says that it is not only the girls,
who do not choose the NGO’s, it is also the NGO’s who are searching out the educated.
ActionAid’s projects are being implemented and monitored by Danish interns who often do
not speak Arabic, why ActionAid prefers to collaborate or hire people who speaks English.
The importance of English language-skills are being stressed correlatively with the increase
of decision-making power3. By choosing the elite-girls of the youth ActionAid might deepen
the gendered exclusion, especially of young uneducated women, whose interest may not be a
concern of the young empowered educated woman(Cornwall,2003:1328).
10.8 Vulnerability and decision-making
I have in the interviews brought a special focus on decision-making and participation in civil
society through f.eks. politics, since ActionAid especially works with projects that involves
decision-making and claiming rights(See ‘ActionAid’). Although all interviewees, expect
3
Own observation.
19
Renad, believe that young women and men are not as much unequal as they are different, do
most of them believe that it is difficult for a young woman to participate in decision-making
on a civil society-level.
“As she is a girl, she thinks she can, according to her ambitions and what’s her thought for
opportunities in the future are very little”(Interview4:30.29)
When asked about girls and decision-making, Renad explain it this way:
“I think it is SO, SO important. Maybe here.. This place, not all girls or woman can make
decision-making. It take a lot of.. we can say strength. Here mostly boys take that part of
work, to have.. to say the rules, to give the decision, like this. Because they think that they can
be.. might be more trustful.. be more strong to have these decisions.”(Interview5:10.47)
The men perceive the women as being vulnerable, which correlate with the family’s need to
protect or make sure for the girls safety in relation with the NGO they work with. The girl is
in need of protection and guidance, something Nihal agrees with in her interview. Here she
compares the freedom of the woman in the U.S with the freedom of the woman in Palestine.
Nihal explains that in Palestine the religion protects the woman better, and that she do not
want the ‘freedom’ women experience in the U.S to come to Hebron(Interview2:11.30).
When challenged in her perspective she says that ‘maybe with age’, a woman can learn to
control all that freedom(Interview2:13:38).
This is opposite Areen, who when she is being challenged, explains that it is not as much
about her gender, as it is about how society works in relation to nepotism(wasta)
(Interview4:32.30). She explains how decision-making positions often are being achieved
more by your family-name and relation, than because the person is the most qualified for the
job. This is a problem which ActionAid also have identified, why much of their work with
duty-bearers consist of informing them about their responsibilities4.
Rawan and Renad do however both agree that becoming a part of decision-making projects
and volunteering with NGO’s is not impossible nor that there is a difference between
genders. Achieving your rights is a personal goal, which you can achieve if you believe in
yourself.
4
Own observation, but based on ActionAid’s Human Rights-based approach.
20
“There is nothing can the woman and the man can’t. And there is nothing that the man can,
the woman can’t. They can do everything together . It’s the same with making decision- it’s
not hard. But they think it’s hard- because they told them, they are still telling them, that it’s
hard for woman but easy for men.”(Interview5:21.38)
“Even if I want to become the president or the priminister. It’s my the right., but I have to
believe in from then everybody that I have the potential.”(Interview3:18.00)
The both continue by explaining that what is holding the girls back is the fear of being judged
by the society around them(Interview5:14.48, Interview3:16.15). Rawan therefore suggest
building up girls self-esteem as an answer to the lack of women participation in society:
“If I have chance, I will try to convince them in their potential and their capacities, because
we have a lot of great women in Palestine, especially in Hebron, but they don’t believe in
themselves...they can give all that potential. Soo.. we just need to work with those women, to
put their self-esteem and to believe more in themselves and their potential and they will be
the leaders of Palestine in the future.”(Interview3:15.34)
Where ActionAid encourage all girls to participate in their projects, do ActionAid not have
any individual gender-projects, focusing on specific gender biased challenges in relation to
participation or decision-making. If a project were dealing with girl’s participation and right
to decision-making specifically, would it be because the youth in Hebron themselves chose it
as a topic. This is a well-known conflict between working with a participatory-approach and
a gender-sensitive one(Cornwall,2003:p.1326). The other issue brought to light is the
difference between individual problems and problems on a society level. If the girls in
Hebron are addressing themselves as duty-bearers for women’s participation and not society,
they will most probably not feel the urge to address this issue on a community level.
10.9 Moving for a better world
All interviewees emphasised in their interview that young women’s situation today should be
view in the perspective of the past. They all feel that the women’s right and freedom had
grown and some even stated that they do not feel this lack of right as NGO’s or women’s
movement otherwise often addresses:
21
“When we talk about women in Palestine, we always refer.. talk about movements that are
fighting for women’s right in Palestine. But, we need to know, what do they believe that
women’s rights are? Because they never make it clear to us that they are. What they are
fighting for... but, sometimes they make it look like women don’t have their right, and they
just working at home, cooking and feeding the children. On the contradictory we’re.. most of
the women.. I know, a lot of women.. are working, are going to voluntary work, are going to
education, to her education, and working with NGO’s”(Interview3:17)
In Rawan’s quote it shows that there is a division between ‘us’ and ‘them’, which
demonstrates that there is a lack of coherence between the young women and the
organisations working for women’s rights. The gender-sensitive approaches have before been
criticized for assuming that women naturally have a feeling of solidarity, as well as it has
been pointed out that there is a tendency for Western organisations to perceive that they are
working with women’s-empowerment in the interest of women worldwide, when they in fact
have
a
feministic
approach
based
on
a
Western
liberal
democratic
conception(Cornwall:2003:p.1335; Arnfred,2011:p.48). If NGO’s instead of working from
their own perception would tune into and build upon the experiences, concepts and categories
of the young women themselves, it would might prevent the lack of understanding and
solidarity, as experienced with Rawan.
11.Conclusion
This chapter will sum up the conclusions of the analysis, explaining why ActionAid Denmark
are experiencing a lack of participation among young women in Hebron.
The family in Hebron is to a high degree involved in the girl’s decision about volunteering
with an NGO. The girls are in general perceived as being vulnerable, and therefore somebody
who should be protected. It is for the family to decide if the project the girl want to volunteer
with are suitable for a young woman, and therefore it is important that the family are familiar
with the organization. Since ActionAid do not offer the same opportunities for the family to
get to know the organization, as local organizations with a permanent building and area of
implementation, this will might prevent the girls from participating in ActionAid Denmark’s
projects. The family also sets different limitations on the girls movement and time of
travelling; the girls cannot participate in late activities or travel far away. In general do the
22
society in Hebron perceive volunteering with NGO’s as inappropriate for girls, especially
when the projects consist of both genders. Given that ActionAid mix the genders in all their
projects, it will decrease the girls’ participation. If the NGO has a good reputation, it will
increase the girls’ participation. ActionAid Denmark is however a new NGO in Hebron, why
they might not have established a trustworthy reputation yet. The analysis indicates that
especially the villages are conservative in regards to young women’s participation with NGO,
since all ActionAid Denmark’s project are being implemented in villages, can this be one of
the factors decreasing the women’s participation.
The two main motivations for participating with ActionAid is that the youth can improve
their skills and, develop and assist their society. The NGO’s, including ActionAid, do
however, have a tendency to repeat the training being offered to the girls, and the girls might
of this reason lose interest. Doing professional capacity building is also an activity which
appeal most to educated young women, whereby ActionAid to some degree exclude the
majority of young women in the villages of Hebron, who are uneducated.
The analysis confirm a difference in the domains of men and women; the home is the domain
of the woman and the public sphere the domain of the man. Having projects which only
operate in the public sphere, will therefore reduce the number of girls participating in projects
with ActionAid Denmark. The analysis shows a tendency to priority marriage and family
above working with NGO’s, why the level of engagement will decrease corresponding to the
rate of marriage. The girls located the responsibility for participating in decision-making as
an individual challenge, which is directly opposite to ActionAid Denmark which addresses
all community issues on a society-level. The analysis shows in general very little solidarity
among women, but rather indicate that there is a gap between women’s organizations and the
young women of Hebron.
23
13. Appendix A -Interview guide
All interviewees have before the interview been briefed about the topic of the report and why
I want to interview them.
Guiding questions for the interview:
-
-
If you can introduce yourself?
Why volunteer in NGO projects? Why do you participate in projects?
Is there any difference in what kind of projects young women and men participate in?
Is there a difference in participating in projects in regards to age?
The support of the family. How is it when girls participate in projects?
What do you think is the explanation for the high rate of
Does it make a difference who implement the project? The kind of organisation? The
nationality of the NGO/the employees?
Is there a difference in the area of implementing projects? Villages/refugee camp/
Hebron city.
What kind of projects are you and young women interested in? Is there a gender
difference in the interest of projects?
What do you prefer- mixed gender or separated projects?
How can an NGO (like ActionAid) make the young women participate in their
projects?
The young women who do not participate in project: Why do you think they don’t
participate in projects? Is it because they don’t want? Don’t have the time/freedom
etc?
How is your perspective on participating in projects- is it an obligation, being a part of
society, or is it a service you offer?
What is the best thing in your society in relation to be a young woman? What is the
worst?
If you could change anything in society in relation to being a young woman, what
should it be?
All the interviews end with a debriefing, where I asked if there were any questions they had
expected me to ask them which I had not or if there was anything they wanted to add.
24
14. Appendix B- Interviewee overview
Interview 1:
Name: Ayat Age: 25 Place of living in Hebron: Al Hawouz Organisation: Shabab al khair.
Ayat insisted on having the interview in English, despite the weakness of her language skills.
However, it was agreed to speak in Arabic when facing English difficulties
Ayat is a part of ‘Shabab al khair’ which translated means ‘The good youth’. Shabab al khair
consist of a group of young people who addresses and react upon needs they find in Hebron.
They work independently of any organisation, but collaborate with everybody, being both
international and local NGO’s, rich and powerful families in Hebron and companies placed in
the Hebron area. They have gained much recognition through their work and is today
supported directly by the Palestinian President Mahmaud Abbas. ActionAid Denmark have
asked Shabab al khair to join ActionAid as volunteers and proposed partnership in relation to
human-rights projects. Shabab al khair have however not been interested in support from
ActionAid as an organisation. I have nonetheless been working with Shabab al Khair, since I
as a private person have been volunteering with the youth group in their projects. Shabab al
Khair works in all areas of Hebron and is especially known to take care of families in rural
areas suffering under settlers attack, and classified as ‘Israeli military security areas’. Most of
their projects can be categorized as service provision, but they do a lot of advocacy work,
claiming rights on behalf of vulnerable groups (fx. poor school children, families of house
demolitions and Bedouins) with both official authorities, leading families in Hebron and
companies.
Interview 2
Name: Nihal. Age: 28 Place of living in Hebron: Harat el sheikh. Organisation: Palestinian
Red Crescent Society (PRSC).
Nihal is unlike the other interviewees marriage and the mother of two young boys. Nihal had
the opportunity of living abroad for 5 years, which has developed her knowledge of different
aspects and earning her the skills to reflect upon her own society differently from the other
interviewees.
25
Nihal is volunteering with PRCS, which offers a various kinds of projects and volunteer
work. PRCS is also the NGO with most (female) volunteers in Hebron.
Interview 3
Name: Rawan. Age: Place of living in Hebron: Beit Ummar Organisation: ActionAid
Rawan was recruited as a volunteer in ActionAid Denmark’s training programme in
Palestine. Today Rawan facilitate ActionAid Denmark’s training of trainers course in
Palestine and work as a community facilitator at ActionAid Australia.
Rawan was chosen as a interviewee to represent one of ActionAid Denmark’s success’
stories. Rawan have in a short time managed to empower herself and her position in society.
She is very aware about her role, her goals and challenges and have been chosen as a trainer
for ActionAid Denmark in oPt, because of her excellent skills in understanding and
supporting youth.
Interview 4
Name: Areen Age: 19 Place of living in Hebron: Shouq Organisation: Shabab al khair
This interview is with translation. Although interviews in English make it easier for the
examintors to understand, it might exclude a special group of young women, namely the
uneducated or less trained girls.
Interview 5
Name: Renad Age: 16 Place of living in Hebron: Ras al jorda Organisation: Partners for
Sustainable Development (PSD)
Partners for Sustainable Development is a non-profit organization which aim is to help and
improve the situation of youth, school students and women in the Palestinian society. PSD
are also considered one of the most active organizations in Hebron.
There was technical problems during the first interview with Renad and at first a lot of
interruptions, why we end the end had done the presentation five times and the full interview
26
two times. This has affected the interview, since Renad already know all the questions and
we both are trying the repeat the same points from before.
Word explanation:
Baladiet: municipality. Do often consist of leading male members of the strongest families in
the area.
Wasta: Nepotism. Is widely used and known in oPt- especially in relation to families.
Al Khalil: The Arabic word for Hebron.
In’shAllah: If God will
Tahujihi: High school
15. Appendix C – Interviews
See CD
16. Bibliography
16.1 Texts

Abu-Lughod, Lila : ‘Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? - Anthropological
Reflections on Cultural Relativism and Its Others’ Ethics Forum: September 11 and
Ethnographic Responsibility in the American Anthropologist Vol. 104, No. 3,
September 2002

Arnfred, Signe: ‘Women, Men and Gender Equality in Development Aid- Trajectories
Contestations.’ In Kvinder, Køn og Forskning nr. 1 2011

Arab Human Development Report (AHDR), 2005

Bourdieu, Pierre (2001): ‘Masculine domination’. Polity Press, U.K

Bryman, Alan (2004): ‘Social Research Methods’, 2 edition. Oxford University Press.

Cornwall, Andrea: ‘Whose Voice? Whose Choices? Reflection on Gender and
Participatory Development’ in World Development Vol. 31 No. 8 2003
27

De Vaus, David (2001): ‘Research design in social research’. London: Sage
Publications.

Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) ‘Palestinian
Women and Security: Why Palestinian Women and Girls Do Not Feel Secure’ 2010 A
DCAF study, researched and written by Stephanie Chaban, Reema Daraghmeh and
Garance Stettler

Human Development Report 2009/10, Occupied Palestinian Territory : ‘Investing in
Human Security for a Future State’

Inter-agency Standing Committee (IASC): ‘Gender Handbook in Humanitarian
Action’ December 2006

Kanji, Nazneen, ‘Reflections on gender and participatory development’ October 2004

Kvale, Steiner og Svend Brinkman (2009): Interview – introduktion til et håndværk.
2. Edition. København: Hans Reitzels Forlag.

MS1: Gender strategy for MS’ programme in the Middle East/North Africa, May
2009

MS2: Strategy for MS’ MENA Programme. MS ActionAid Denmark, Danish
Association for International Cooperation, May 2008

MS3: Strategy Paper ’ActionAid in oPt, West Bank, Youth Program, 2011’

MS4: “Building Bridges for Youth Action Programme”, MS ActionAid Denmark,
May 2011.

Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), ‘Women and Men in Palestine’, 2005

Palestine Monitor factsheet (PM), ‘Torture,’ 2008

Population Reference Bureau (PRB), ‘Youth in the middle East and North Africa:
Demographic opportunity or challenge?’ Written by Ragui Assaad and Farzaneh
Roudi-Fahimi, 2007

Sharek Youth Forum: ‘Promise or peril – The status of youth in Palestine’ 2010’
16.2. Internet

Web1: http://lawcenter.birzeit.edu/iol/en/index.php?action_id=210

Web2: http://www.actionaid.org/who-we-are

Web3: http://www.ms.dk/sw104367.asp

Web4: http://www.austcare.org.au/ourwork/actionaid.aspx

Web5: http://www.unrwa.org/etemplate.php?id=253
28