As part of the 16-day global campaign, the Community Media Center (CMC) launches the play "Kalam Reham" on combating gender-based violence, and presents it in a number of UNRWA schools

Gaza – CMC – December 2022

The Community Media Center (CMC) held the first performance of the play "Kalam Reham" with the aim of promoting a culture of women’s rights and the concepts of equality and non-discrimination between the sexes among children and adolescents, in cooperation with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), and with the participation of a group of primary and preparatory students.

The performances of the play "Kalam Reham" take place within the 16 Days of International Campaigns to Combat Gender-Based Violence against Women and Girls, as part of the project "Mobilizing Society and Media to Enhance Women’s Access to Justice and Security in the Gaza Strip" within the second phase of the Sawasiya project, a joint program between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UN Women and UNICEF to strengthen the rule of law in the State of Palestine.

Kholoud Al-Sawalmeh, Projects Director at the CMC, said, “Through this project, we seek to contribute to improving women’s access to justice and obtaining their rights through advocacy and awareness efforts on the concepts of gender justice, human and women’s rights, and combating gender-based violence.”

Al-Sawalmeh noted that the play "Kalam Reham" is the culmination of efforts made by the participants (men and women) in the training camp for making and animating theatrical puppets and using them to promote a culture of women’s rights.

Preparations for the play "Kalam Reham" continued for more than 3 months, during which the participants developed the idea of the play, wrote its script, identified the characteristics of its heroes, and divided the roles among them. After that, the participants trained in performing texts and imitating voices. They made the characters out of marionette puppets, designed and made theater decorations, and in the last stage they trained to move the string puppets under the supervision of the camp trainers and the CMC team.

The play simulates situations and scenes that occur in most Palestinian homes, in which girls are subjected to discrimination based on sex, deprivation of their rights, and exclusion from different roles in life.

The play seeks to combat this phenomenon by encouraging the participation of both sexes within the family and at all levels and promotes working towards a healthy and cohesive society in which women participate side by side with men in all roles. The play also encourages pride in the Palestinian heritage and participation between the ancestors, men and women, in various fields.

The play was inaugurated by the heroine of CMC, Noor, who concludes the show, and motivates the viewers to interact with the discussion, and ask questions about the show, the phenomenon of discrimination, and how to combat it, while a group of psychologists from the Gaza Mental Health Program manages the discussion with children and adolescents.

The play succeeded in engaging children and adolescents. The viewers showed great enthusiasm as they shook hands with the puppets, the heroes of the play, and expressed their happiness with the performance.

The supervising teachers appreciated the efforts made by the play team and the CMC, and emphasized the role of theater in enhancing children and adolescents’ awareness of the importance of gender participation, and reducing manifestations of discrimination among them. They also recommended the implementation of more presentations in response to the students’ needs.

10 performances were carried out in each of Al-Shati Primary School for Boys (C), Tal Al-Hawa Primary School for Girls (B) and Al-Mamounia Preparatory Girls School (A), and CMC is preparing to reach the largest number of children and adolescents in schools from all governorates of the Gaza Strip.

As part of the global 16-day campaign, the CMC also launched a digital campaign to combat cyber violence and raise awareness of girls’ digital safety. The organization produced and broadcasted a documentary film on the phenomenon of gender-based violence against women and girls. It organized a discussion session for a group of films at the 2022 "With Women’s Eyes" festival, in cooperation with the Women’s Affairs Center. It also held an awareness session on the Family Protection from Violence Law, in cooperation with the Amal Coalition.

CMC also broadcasts a series of podcast episodes during the global 16-day campaign that discusses topics such as cyber extortion, early marriage, economic empowerment, child custody, and obsession with male procreation. In addition, the CMC is intensifying the promotion of the “Masaatuna” application, which facilitates access for women and girls exposed to violence to multi-sectoral service provider which was issued by CMC in partnership with the Terre des Zoom Foundation - Switzerland.

The Community Media Center will implement an awareness workshop on the impact of climate change on gender-based violence in cooperation with the NGO Network, and will continue to hold a series of awareness sessions on women’s rights, protection from gender-based violence, and combating electronic violence.

The CMC is a non-governmental organization operating in the Gaza Strip since 2007, seeking to develop the role of the media in dealing with societal issues, and promoting the values of democracy, equality and a culture of human rights, with a focus on women and youth issues within human rights-based approach.