The Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling – WCLAC will conduct a fieldwork project within the framework of the pilot action of mobilization of gender equality actors at local level led in 2015 as the leader of the local cluster of gender equality actors© (Cycle 1). This pilot action was realized in the West Bank and allowed, through a series of trainings and debates, to reflect on several themes which are considered priorities at the local level such as violence against women and women’s human rights.

Regional committees composed of community leaders and activists were established and the consultations of these committees highlighted several lessons learned and recommendations.The importance of encouraging discussions between the social and political activists and of building partnerships with local communities has been emphasized to define better approaches to advocate for women’s rights.

Thus, in order to include issues related to gender equality and women’s rights in the political agenda, awareness-raising sessions with members of political parties and trade unions will be realised in Bethlehem and Hebron. The project’s objective is to promote women’s leadership and their presence in positions of responsibility and to increase the number of men sensitive to gender issues and who can be catalysts for social change in the future.

This project follows the mission of the Foundation to encourage women’s empowerment. It is one of fieldwork projects developed within the framework of the 1st cycle of the Axis 1 "Strengthening the capacity of the actors working for equality" of the project “Women for the future in the Mediterranean”, funded by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development (MAEDI) and the project "Developing Women Empowerment" labeled by the Union for the Mediterranean.