CLOSING WORKSHOP PILOT INITIATIVE IN PALESTINE GEMAISA 2 PROJECT
Enhancing gender mainstreaming for sustainable rural development and food security actions
21 September, 2021
Online event
As part of GEMAISA2 project “Enhancing gender mainstreaming for sustainable rural development and food security actions”, funded by the Italian cooperation and implemented by CIHEAM Bari jointly with the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture, the closing workshop of the Pilot Initiative in Palestine took place online on 21st September. The aim was to present results and gather relevant recommendations for future initiatives of the project.
The event was opened by Abdullah Lahlouh, Palestinian Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Biagio di Terlizzi,. CIHEAM Bari’s Deputy Director, and Guglielmo Giordano, Head of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation Office in Palestine.
Gabriella Ceretti, Gender Equality Programme Officer, AICS Palestine, emphasised the valuable support provided by the Italian Cooperation throughout GEMAISA Project and pointed out the strategic role of agriculture and rural development in the country and the related huge potential for employment, especially for women.
GEMAISA regional programme has been implemented in 5 Countries (Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, and Tunisia) to increase women’s participation in a number of selected agri-food value chains by applying a multidimensional approach which takes into account socio-economic and institutional constraints.
The Palestinian pilot initiative of GEMAISA 2 aimed to:
- Enhance women’s sustainable participation – at local level- in three value chains; dairy, grapes and herbal plants, in the three governorates of Jerusalem (Beit Duqqu), Hebron, (Beit Ummar) and Nablus (Nassarya);
- Increase knowledge, awareness, and technical capacities of the MoA staff at national and local level to mainstream gender issues in rural and agricultural development strategies and activities, including through the systematization of successful approaches and tools adopted at institutional level.
The second session of the workshop focused on the presentation of the outcomes of the activities carried out in Palestine under GEMAISA project by the Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with CIHEAM Bari core team and local associations.
Marie Reine Bteich, GEMAISA core team, and Khitam Hamayel, national coordinator of GEMAISA project, illustrated the approaches and tools used for its implementation and the main results obtained at local and institutional level. The discussion was enriched by the testimonies of the direct beneficiaries, ASALA and ACAD associations that contributed to some of the activities and the FAO Gender Focal Point at the Ministry.
