Policy Brief 10
ILO Response Policy Brief 10 A Training of Trainers (TOT) workshop was conducted using ILO cooperative management tools (Basic Cooperative Knowledge, Policy and Law including ILO Rec. 193, Group Formation, Cooperative Management and Leadership, Gender Mainstreaming in Cooperatives, BDS and Value Chain Analysis in Cooperatives, Basic Economics of an Agricultural Cooperative and Basic Training Methodology). Mainstreaming Gender Equality Concerns Around 27 extension workers were trained to provide training and counselling to women cooperatives. in Palestinian Cooperatives The workshop was organized in March 2010, and aimed to: increase the volume of business and improve the quality of products and services of women cooperatives; access to local and international markets; develop linkages with mixed co-ops and cooperative unions and replicate good practices of women Summary cooperatives. The core objective of the workshop was to equip participants with the skills to work as cooperative extension workers and promote women cooperatives in the West Bank and Gaza Strip This policy brief presents the summary of a study1 through the provision of cooperative management and leadership trainings, as well as consultancy and from the International Labour Organization (ILO) business development service on women cooperatives in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (WBGS). It highlights the overall security Following the ToT workshop for women cooperatives, action plans and capacity building project and employment context as well as underling proposals for women cooperatives were developed with the support of the women cooperative’s challenges to Palestinian women’s participation in extension workers and ILO team, these action plans and capacity building projects aimed at building cooperatives. Finally, it recommends strategies to the capacity of women cooperatives and enhance their skills to better manage their cooperatives as well encourage the development of new women-only as to increase number of, or membership within, women-only cooperatives in WBGS. cooperatives while strengthening existing cooperatives.
The Socio-Political Context The living conditions of Palestinians in the WBGS are radically different from other Arab countries. The territories have been subject to the longest occupation in modern history, affecting all aspects of economic development through the control of the economy, land, resources, borders, urban growth and the movement of persons, goods, and services. As a result, a profound employment crisis is affecting Palestinian workers throughout the Bethlehem Cooperative WBGS. Enterprises operate far below full Bethlehem Cooperative capacity, businesses are routinely shut down, and References: new investment projects are deferred or shelved. Contact information: restrictions on workers who work in Israel and • ILO 2008 a: Report of the Director-General on Workers work less than full time, lose their jobs the settlements. Since the outbreak of the second the situation of workers of the occupied Arab and search for alternatives that are unpredictable International Labour Organization Intifada in 2000, Israel has unilaterally restricted the territories. (Geneva) [English & Arabic]. or inadequately remunerated, leaving their families Regional OfÀce for Arab States to struggle with various coping strategies (ILO, Áow of Palestinian workers into the Israeli labour • www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/-ed_ Aresco Centre, 11th & 12th Áoors 2008a). market by building the Separation Wall. It has also norms/-relconf/documents/meetingdocument/ Justinien Street, Kantari, Beirut, Lebanon reduced to a minimum the issuance of permits for wcms_093729.pdf Tel: (961) 1 752400 Fax: (961) 1 752406 These problems are compounded by Israeli Palestinians to work in Israel. Yet in the absence • ILO2008b: Unprotected Employment in the of sufÀcient income-earning opportunities in the Jerusalem OfÀce West Bank and Gaza Strip: A Gender Equality 1 The study “Mainstreaming Gender Equality Concerns WBGS, many jobless Palestinian men, women, and Workers’ Rights Perspective, Regional P.O. Box 51359 in Palestinian Cooperatives: A situation analysis and needs and children venture to Israeli settlements for work OfÀce for Arab States (Beirut) [English & Tel: (972) 2 6260212 Fax: (972) 2 627646 assessment” was conducted by Amer Madi, Joan Jubran, Omar in homes, businesses, and agriculture under unsafe Arabic]. Abu Ghoush, Shawkat Sarsour, and Tahreer Araj, in 2009 under the http://www.ilo.org.lb MDG-F programme’s outcome on “Women’s Empowerment and and unhealthy working and living arrangements • www.ilo.org/gender/Informationresources/ http://www.ilo.org/gender Gender Equality in the oPt” funded by the Spanish Government. (ILO 2008b). lang-en/docName-WCMS_097715/index.htm
Photo Credits: Union of Cooperatives Association for Saving and Credit
8 Mainstreaming Gender Equality Concerns in Palestinian Cooperatives Policy Brief 10 Policy Brief 10
Palestinian Women’s Employment: Table 1: Number and distribution of mixed & women Recommendation lack marketing skills within cooperatives. only cooperatives in the West Bank by sector Limited and ConÀned • There is a need to provide references and Business Development Services often concentrate Total Members Women as self-help materials for women (possibly in the Mixed & on building cooperatives’ internal capacities. The security situation and the structure of employment All cooperatives (Mixed % total Women’s context of cooperative incubators or other en- &Women’s) members combined have contributed to Palestinian women’s Sector However, few offer courses on how to market % % trepreneurship programmes), including speciÀc Number members Number members their products at the local, regional and national exclusion from paid and protected employment. Total Total business development tools to be applied for levels and promote exports internationally. This is Women’s unemployment rates are signiÀcantly Agriculture 198 16697 26 25.7 784 8.3 5% enterprises formation and management. This a signiÀcant challenge as access to the local and higher among women with 13 + years of education; Consumers 11 895 6 5.9 204 2.2 23% could entail the development of speciÀc models international markets is key to the sustainability of while women with lower levels of education are often Handicraft 11 885 7 6.9 593 5.7 59% with proper guidelines and manuals regarding project management, marketing, negotiation, Palestinian cooperatives, especially in the context discouraged workers who do not declare themselves Housing 176 6803 31 30.7 1322 14.0 19% Services 64 14222 31 31.7 6596 69.8 6% planning and time management. of the Israeli occupation. as unemployed. Total 460 101 101 100 9418 100 100 Women’s labour force participation rates in the West Box 2: ILO WEDGE Products and Business Group Formation Manual Bank (15.4 percent) and Gaza Strip (11.7 percent) Participation of Palestinian women in cooperatives The Women’s Entrepreneurship Development and Gender Equality (WEDGE) Programme: remain low (PCBS, 2010). While employment rates is highest in the handicrafts sector, representing for Palestinian women had historically been low, they 59 percent of the total. Membership in Palestinian • Women Entrepreneurship Development Capacity-Building Guide cooperatives has traditionally been male dominated have further declined in the past decade. The Women’s Entrepreneurship Development (WED) Capacity Building Guide is a training tool aimed since out of the 461 registered in 2009 in the West at improving the skills of staff in small and medium enterprise support institutions and projects in Most working women can be found in agriculture and Bank, only 101 actually have women members. developing countries. services where they work without pay as contributing Gender disparity is mainly attributed to women’s The guide helps support institutions to provide more effective services and improve their services to family workers or with very limited returns. The limited access to and control over the physical largest proportion of women’s employment is in and Ànancial resources needed for obtaining women entrepreneurs. The WED guide takes into consideration many issues that women entrepreneurs experience in starting, formalizing and expanding their own enterprises. clerical work at the low-end of the pay scale. The relatively high levels of women’s participation in the • Gender and Entrepreneurship Together (GET Ahead) agricultural sector are to be explained through massive Gender and Entrepreneurship Together (GET Ahead) is an ILO training package that assists ILO employment in subsistence agriculture and seasonal partner organization to promote enterprise development among poor women who want to be, or skilled work. These jobs are usually undertaken by already are, engaged in small scale business through market oriented business services. It emphasizes the older cohort of women who have little education. the importance of the household and cooperatives in insuring success of women entrepreneurs. Low economic returns from agriculture have been Business Group Formation Trainer’s Manual exacerbated by climatic and natural downturns which have rendered work in agriculture unviable for the This manual helps trainers to promote group formation as a way to empower women younger generation of Palestinian women in general and men in low income communities. It is designed for use in workshops to facilitate and those living in urban areas and refugee camps in the process of group formation and development for joint production, business and/or social activities, such as buying raw materials together, sharing particular. business premises, joint marketing and mutual assistance in coping with family emergencies. Recent History of Women Cooperatives Source: ILO 2004 in the WBGS Despite the relatively long history of the Palestinian cooperative movement, women’s participation in cooperatives is relatively recent. Most women 5. Overcoming Barriers through Enhanced Recommendation • There is a need to Ànd special markets to cooperatives have been established after 2000 as Skills and Market Access a result of externally motivated factors, including disseminate rural products, such as dried donor funding priorities toward cooperative Due to the lack of policies regulating import fruits, embroidery and other handicrafts. This development. Awareness is therefore still limited of products and encouraging local production, should include the development of linkages regarding local communities’ self-interest, cooperatives in general, and women-only with both the local and international markets governance and cooperation principles, as well as cooperatives in particular, Ànd themselves and the enhancement of women’s knowledge cooperative projects that display the productive competing with low-cost products from abroad. in marketing, product quality improvement and capacities of women on a large scale. Paultry Farming Cooperative - SalÀt This unfair competition is further exacerbated by a value chain processes.
2 Mainstreaming Gender Equality Concerns in Palestinian Cooperatives Mainstreaming Gender Equality Concerns in Palestinian Cooperatives 7 Policy Brief 10 Policy Brief 10
directly emanate from local communities, but was change in private funding mechanisms, from membership, as well as women’s general Challenges to Palestinian a result of the support and/or guidance of external non-refundable grants and loans to more preference to join women-only cooperatives over Women’s Participation in stakeholders. While these projects were supported sustainable cooperative loans. Experts in mixed cooperatives. Women-only cooperatives Cooperatives by training and coaching measures, they remained cooperative Ànancing, including those in operate in all 11 West Bank governorates but are mainly concentrated in Ramallah, where 44 percent insufÀcient to ensure long-term sustainability. Islamic Ànancing, could be engaged as many Low Levels of Education and Resources cooperatives refuse the principle of interest on are found. Ramallah is also where 20 percent of Women’s cooperatives failed to build on existing loans referring to Islamic Ànancing principles. all cooperative membership in the West Bank is Numerous cultural, socio-economic and resources and generate sufÀcient common-interest found. organizational challenges impede effective among their members. Interviews also revealed mainstreaming of gender equality in Palestinian that many women cooperatives launched projects Box 1: Cooperative values and principles Figure 1: Number of mixed and women-only cooperatives. Women have low levels of educational without clear medium or short-term plans based on attainment, minimal income levels, and limited cooperatives in the West Bank sufÀcient market research and feasibility studies. According to the ILO Promotion of Cooperatives access and control over savings and assets. The fact Recommendation, 2002 (No. 193), the promotion that laws, in particular legislation on inheritance, are and strengthening of the identity of cooperatives -HUXVDOHP not protective of the rights of women to own land Recommendation %HWKOHKHP should be encouraged on the basis of: and in some areas prohibit women’s inheritance of • There is a need to establish an incubator +HEURQ 5DPDOODK land make it extremely difÀcult to independently (a) Cooperative values of self-help, self-responsi- for small enterprise development that, in -HULFKR sustain agricultural economic enterprises. Even in coordination with the General Directorate of bility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity; 1DEOXV women-only cooperatives, women generally lack Cooperatives in the MoL can assist in the con- as well as ethical values of honesty, openness, -HQLQ 7XONDUHP the Ànancial and physical resources to contribute to ceptualization, development and replication of social responsibility and caring for others; and 4DOTLO\LD the growth of their cooperatives in the long run. “original” cooperative ideas based on the needs 6DOÀW and common interests of Palestinian women. (b) Cooperative principles, as developed by the 7XEDV Low education levels and lack of common resources This includes the provision of counselling and international cooperative movement, namely: remain key impediments to the development of women cooperatives and to women’s economic support services which can help the development voluntary and open membership; democratic Source: Ministry of Labour, 2009 of feasible and bring them to realization within member control; member economic participation; advancement in the WBGS. the unique Palestinian context. Other provisions autonomy and independence; education, dealing with overall supervision – training, training and information; cooperation among Balancing “Productive” and coaching, and cooperative enterprise education cooperatives; and concern for community. “Reproductive” Roles: could be included in such incubator programs. Source: ILO, 2002. Women’s situation is worsened by patriarchal 3. Independent External Funding for Coopera- norms and rigid gender stereotypes regarding tives their role which hinders their full participation in cooperatives. When social traditions do not The overwhelming majority of women cooperatives 4. Designing Financial and Administrative constrain their participation, women may still be have received loans and/or grants from local NGO Management Tools for Women’s Cooperatives discouraged from participating actively as members and international organizations for capacity building The boards and general assembly of women or leaders within the cooperative. In fact, women’s and organizational development purposes, as well cooperatives have received a large number of cooperative Board members are mostly inactive as loans to establish revolving funds. The impact training courses on project management, economic or relegated to positions such as Board Secretary of these grants and loans on cooperatives has been feasibility studies, bookkeeping, planning, or Treasurer, as they are considered “culturally piecemeal. Few cooperatives have actually managed fund raising, report writing, time management, acceptable for women” but not conducive to to stand on their own following the cessation of communications, and food processing. With the decision making. funding. This dependency has constrained the exception of food processing, evidence gathered development of sustainable structures and services suggests that these training activities have had little Such problems are compounded by the fact that for cooperatives. It has also meant that the type of impact on the cooperatives and the way they are women’s additional productive tasks do not lead activities carried out is externally determined, rather run. to a lessening or sharing of tasks in the household than emerging from local initiatives and needs. with the male counterparts. Therefore, women Thus, although they have beneÀted from various continue to perform their roles in child rearing, capacity building programmes, women in Recommendation family care and household maintenance – all in cooperatives still lack certain skills in terms addition to their new roles in the informal or formal • Mechanisms relevant to the values of of Ànancial and administrative management. sector economy. As a result, they may participate cooperatives and society, such as the principle For example, most cooperatives do not provide in cooperatives but are given fewer opportunities of self-help, also need to be cultivated in order documentation on their administrative and Ànancial than men to fully engage and be represented in to diminish current dependency on donors and procedures, nor do they present annual plans or cooperative activities due to time constraints and grants. This, however, requires a signiÀcant written performance reports. numerous daily obligations in the household.
6 Mainstreaming Gender Equality Concerns in Palestinian Cooperatives Mainstreaming Gender Equality Concerns in Palestinian Cooperatives 3 Policy Brief 10 Policy Brief 10
Women’s Integration as a Pretext Recommendation the areas of women’s economic empowerment, Women’s participation can be seen as largely • Capacity development is needed for Cooperative governance reform, and rural development. superÀcial in cooperatives where male members Counsellors at the MoL. The counsellors could register and pay membership fees on behalf of be provided with training on the principles Strengthening Existing Women-Only the women members of their families (wives, of cooperative enterprise development, risk Cooperatives daughters, sisters) in order to maximize their assessment, value chain analysis, business ownership share and Ànancial returns from the feasibility surveys and promoting gender 1. Strengthening the General Directorate of cooperative by bypassing ownership rules. In equality in cooperatives. This training will not Cooperatives addition, a large number of mixed cooperatives only make the programme more effective; it Until 2003, when the Àrst Saving and Credit encourage participation of women only in order will also contribute to its sustainability in the Cooperative Association was registered as a result to attract external donor support, rather than work long run. of the extensive advocacy efforts by Palestinian towards real integration. Agricultural Relief Committee, the General 3. Advocating for Gender Mainstreaming in Directorate of Cooperatives, which includes nine National Policies Special Fragmentation and Market women staff out of a total of 29, had refused to accept The existing socio-economic and structural Isolation applications for the registering of women-only conditions in agriculture and other economic sectors cooperatives on the basis of the open-membership Finally, the geographic isolation of some rural in the WBGS, require speciÀc efforts to create principles espoused in cooperatives and deÀned by Beekeeping Cooperative -Gaza communities and the unavailability of efÀcient employment and self-employment opportunities the Cooperative Law. and effective transportation between them are for Palestinian women. exacerbated by movement restrictions, such as Recommendations Some cooperative counsellors still refuse to accept These efforts need to address a number of challenges checkpoints, the separation Wall and curfews. • New economic sub-sectors and non-traditional applications for women-only cooperatives, while from traditional cooperative governance structures, These limit women’s access to many key resources, cooperative ventures need to be encouraged. others turn a blind eye to them, thereby leaving the which tend to be male, dominated, to legislation business support programmes and market Women-only cooperatives have not yet moved matter to their colleagues at the headquarters. The perpetuating gender inequities. The MoL does not opportunities. beyond traditional sectors, nor are they being problem is exacerbated by understafÀng and have the policies and strategies in place to promote formed on the basis of common needs. New under-equipment of the General Directorate of Together, these factors negatively impact the gender mainstreaming in cooperatives. In addition, cooperative niches for women need to be Cooperatives. The low levels of logistical resources capacities of members of women cooperative the General Directorate of Cooperatives at the identiÀed Àrst in sectors that have traditionally hinder the provision, coverage and dissemination to market their products, network with other MoL does not have a strong gender-based technical absorbed a large numbers of women such as of counselling services. organizations and use available capacity building capacity that constrains the extension of services to agriculture, and then new opportunities in tools. Such spacial fragmentation makes it difÀcult women cooperatives. Finally, the difÀcult situation sectors where there is growth potential, such as Recommendation to devise and implement efÀcient market integration of women cooperatives is further exacerbated by restaurants, commerce and services. and economic development strategies. their members’ limited access to training, Ànances • There is a need to create a team with multiple • Support should be provided for the formation of markets, support services and information and specialities on cooperative movement and women-only cooperatives in identiÀed sectors, communication technologies. economic and social policies within the Findings and in close collaboration with organizations that General Directorate of Cooperatives of the Recommendations support microenterprises and cooperative MoL. This team can review and assess existing development. Cooperative staff should also Recommendation cooperatives to analyze the potential viability of be trained on principles of cooperative their projects in light of the general principles Laying the Foundations for the Success • There is a need to advocate for gender work, enterprise development, management mainstreaming in policies on entrepreneur- of cooperatives. This entails the provision of of New Women-Only Cooperatives basics, entrepreneurial skills and cooperative ship and cooperative development. Advocacy technical support to women-only cooperatives. development tools campaigns are needed to reform existing laws The results of this revision could be discussed 1. Unlocking Women from Traditional Sectors and advocate for the adoption of policies that in the General Assembly and meeting of and Finding “niche’’ Markets 2. Building the Capacity of Coop Counsellors promote gender equality. Of equal importance the Board of Directors, and shared with key Despite the concentration of women memberships The MoL’s Cooperative Counsellors play an is the need to better lobby legislators and Business Development Service providers. in mixed and women-only cooperatives in certain important role in advising and guiding cooperatives governments to adopt policies that improve the sectors, men still dominate the majority of cooperative through registration and beyond. These Counsellors access of women cooperatives to credit, provide 2. Encouraging Initiative and Ownership of sectors as a whole. Women have especially limited are key to ensuring that the founding members of incentives and tax-breaks for cooperative Cooperative Concepts membership in services (6 percent). To increase cooperatives possess the knowledge, information, start-ups, and encourage public procurement As a result of the economic downturn following productivity and women’s integration, cooperatives and skills needed. Yet, the capacity of these of cooperative products and services. These the onset of the second Palestinian Intifada, need support in identifying new niche markets – Counsellors in enterprise development and campaigns need to be undertaken through the cooperative projects were encouraged by many especially in services. The objective is not merely promoting gender equality is limited, diminishing concerted efforts of civil society and women’s donor agencies and development organizations. to increase the volume of women’s employment the effectiveness of the guidance and support they organizations as well as relevant international The idea of establishing women’s cooperatives, for opportunities, but also the diversity. provide to cooperatives. institutions including the UN agencies active in 59 percent of the associations interviewed, did not
4 Mainstreaming Gender Equality Concerns in Palestinian Cooperatives Mainstreaming Gender Equality Concerns in Palestinian Cooperatives 5 Policy Brief 10 Policy Brief 10
Women’s Integration as a Pretext Recommendation the areas of women’s economic empowerment, Women’s participation can be seen as largely • Capacity development is needed for Cooperative governance reform, and rural development. superÀcial in cooperatives where male members Counsellors at the MoL. The counsellors could register and pay membership fees on behalf of be provided with training on the principles Strengthening Existing Women-Only the women members of their families (wives, of cooperative enterprise development, risk Cooperatives daughters, sisters) in order to maximize their assessment, value chain analysis, business ownership share and Ànancial returns from the feasibility surveys and promoting gender 1. Strengthening the General Directorate of cooperative by bypassing ownership rules. In equality in cooperatives. This training will not Cooperatives addition, a large number of mixed cooperatives only make the programme more effective; it Until 2003, when the Àrst Saving and Credit encourage participation of women only in order will also contribute to its sustainability in the Cooperative Association was registered as a result to attract external donor support, rather than work long run. of the extensive advocacy efforts by Palestinian towards real integration. Agricultural Relief Committee, the General 3. Advocating for Gender Mainstreaming in Directorate of Cooperatives, which includes nine National Policies Special Fragmentation and Market women staff out of a total of 29, had refused to accept The existing socio-economic and structural Isolation applications for the registering of women-only conditions in agriculture and other economic sectors cooperatives on the basis of the open-membership Finally, the geographic isolation of some rural in the WBGS, require speciÀc efforts to create principles espoused in cooperatives and deÀned by Beekeeping Cooperative -Gaza communities and the unavailability of efÀcient employment and self-employment opportunities the Cooperative Law. and effective transportation between them are for Palestinian women. exacerbated by movement restrictions, such as Recommendations Some cooperative counsellors still refuse to accept These efforts need to address a number of challenges checkpoints, the separation Wall and curfews. • New economic sub-sectors and non-traditional applications for women-only cooperatives, while from traditional cooperative governance structures, These limit women’s access to many key resources, cooperative ventures need to be encouraged. others turn a blind eye to them, thereby leaving the which tend to be male, dominated, to legislation business support programmes and market Women-only cooperatives have not yet moved matter to their colleagues at the headquarters. The perpetuating gender inequities. The MoL does not opportunities. beyond traditional sectors, nor are they being problem is exacerbated by understafÀng and have the policies and strategies in place to promote formed on the basis of common needs. New under-equipment of the General Directorate of Together, these factors negatively impact the gender mainstreaming in cooperatives. In addition, cooperative niches for women need to be Cooperatives. The low levels of logistical resources capacities of members of women cooperative the General Directorate of Cooperatives at the identiÀed Àrst in sectors that have traditionally hinder the provision, coverage and dissemination to market their products, network with other MoL does not have a strong gender-based technical absorbed a large numbers of women such as of counselling services. organizations and use available capacity building capacity that constrains the extension of services to agriculture, and then new opportunities in tools. Such spacial fragmentation makes it difÀcult women cooperatives. Finally, the difÀcult situation sectors where there is growth potential, such as Recommendation to devise and implement efÀcient market integration of women cooperatives is further exacerbated by restaurants, commerce and services. and economic development strategies. their members’ limited access to training, Ànances • There is a need to create a team with multiple • Support should be provided for the formation of markets, support services and information and specialities on cooperative movement and women-only cooperatives in identiÀed sectors, communication technologies. economic and social policies within the Findings and in close collaboration with organizations that General Directorate of Cooperatives of the Recommendations support microenterprises and cooperative MoL. This team can review and assess existing development. Cooperative staff should also Recommendation cooperatives to analyze the potential viability of be trained on principles of cooperative their projects in light of the general principles Laying the Foundations for the Success • There is a need to advocate for gender work, enterprise development, management mainstreaming in policies on entrepreneur- of cooperatives. This entails the provision of of New Women-Only Cooperatives basics, entrepreneurial skills and cooperative ship and cooperative development. Advocacy technical support to women-only cooperatives. development tools campaigns are needed to reform existing laws The results of this revision could be discussed 1. Unlocking Women from Traditional Sectors and advocate for the adoption of policies that in the General Assembly and meeting of and Finding “niche’’ Markets 2. Building the Capacity of Coop Counsellors promote gender equality. Of equal importance the Board of Directors, and shared with key Despite the concentration of women memberships The MoL’s Cooperative Counsellors play an is the need to better lobby legislators and Business Development Service providers. in mixed and women-only cooperatives in certain important role in advising and guiding cooperatives governments to adopt policies that improve the sectors, men still dominate the majority of cooperative through registration and beyond. These Counsellors access of women cooperatives to credit, provide 2. Encouraging Initiative and Ownership of sectors as a whole. Women have especially limited are key to ensuring that the founding members of incentives and tax-breaks for cooperative Cooperative Concepts membership in services (6 percent). To increase cooperatives possess the knowledge, information, start-ups, and encourage public procurement As a result of the economic downturn following productivity and women’s integration, cooperatives and skills needed. Yet, the capacity of these of cooperative products and services. These the onset of the second Palestinian Intifada, need support in identifying new niche markets – Counsellors in enterprise development and campaigns need to be undertaken through the cooperative projects were encouraged by many especially in services. The objective is not merely promoting gender equality is limited, diminishing concerted efforts of civil society and women’s donor agencies and development organizations. to increase the volume of women’s employment the effectiveness of the guidance and support they organizations as well as relevant international The idea of establishing women’s cooperatives, for opportunities, but also the diversity. provide to cooperatives. institutions including the UN agencies active in 59 percent of the associations interviewed, did not
4 Mainstreaming Gender Equality Concerns in Palestinian Cooperatives Mainstreaming Gender Equality Concerns in Palestinian Cooperatives 5 Policy Brief 10 Policy Brief 10
directly emanate from local communities, but was change in private funding mechanisms, from membership, as well as women’s general Challenges to Palestinian a result of the support and/or guidance of external non-refundable grants and loans to more preference to join women-only cooperatives over Women’s Participation in stakeholders. While these projects were supported sustainable cooperative loans. Experts in mixed cooperatives. Women-only cooperatives Cooperatives by training and coaching measures, they remained cooperative Ànancing, including those in operate in all 11 West Bank governorates but are mainly concentrated in Ramallah, where 44 percent insufÀcient to ensure long-term sustainability. Islamic Ànancing, could be engaged as many Low Levels of Education and Resources cooperatives refuse the principle of interest on are found. Ramallah is also where 20 percent of Women’s cooperatives failed to build on existing loans referring to Islamic Ànancing principles. all cooperative membership in the West Bank is Numerous cultural, socio-economic and resources and generate sufÀcient common-interest found. organizational challenges impede effective among their members. Interviews also revealed mainstreaming of gender equality in Palestinian that many women cooperatives launched projects Box 1: Cooperative values and principles Figure 1: Number of mixed and women-only cooperatives. Women have low levels of educational without clear medium or short-term plans based on attainment, minimal income levels, and limited cooperatives in the West Bank sufÀcient market research and feasibility studies. According to the ILO Promotion of Cooperatives access and control over savings and assets. The fact Recommendation, 2002 (No. 193), the promotion that laws, in particular legislation on inheritance, are and strengthening of the identity of cooperatives -HUXVDOHP not protective of the rights of women to own land Recommendation %HWKOHKHP should be encouraged on the basis of: and in some areas prohibit women’s inheritance of • There is a need to establish an incubator +HEURQ 5DPDOODK land make it extremely difÀcult to independently (a) Cooperative values of self-help, self-responsi- for small enterprise development that, in -HULFKR sustain agricultural economic enterprises. Even in coordination with the General Directorate of bility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity; 1DEOXV women-only cooperatives, women generally lack Cooperatives in the MoL can assist in the con- as well as ethical values of honesty, openness, -HQLQ 7XONDUHP the Ànancial and physical resources to contribute to ceptualization, development and replication of social responsibility and caring for others; and 4DOTLO\LD the growth of their cooperatives in the long run. “original” cooperative ideas based on the needs 6DOÀW and common interests of Palestinian women. (b) Cooperative principles, as developed by the 7XEDV Low education levels and lack of common resources This includes the provision of counselling and international cooperative movement, namely: remain key impediments to the development of women cooperatives and to women’s economic support services which can help the development voluntary and open membership; democratic Source: Ministry of Labour, 2009 of feasible and bring them to realization within member control; member economic participation; advancement in the WBGS. the unique Palestinian context. Other provisions autonomy and independence; education, dealing with overall supervision – training, training and information; cooperation among Balancing “Productive” and coaching, and cooperative enterprise education cooperatives; and concern for community. “Reproductive” Roles: could be included in such incubator programs. Source: ILO, 2002. Women’s situation is worsened by patriarchal 3. Independent External Funding for Coopera- norms and rigid gender stereotypes regarding tives their role which hinders their full participation in cooperatives. When social traditions do not The overwhelming majority of women cooperatives 4. Designing Financial and Administrative constrain their participation, women may still be have received loans and/or grants from local NGO Management Tools for Women’s Cooperatives discouraged from participating actively as members and international organizations for capacity building The boards and general assembly of women or leaders within the cooperative. In fact, women’s and organizational development purposes, as well cooperatives have received a large number of cooperative Board members are mostly inactive as loans to establish revolving funds. The impact training courses on project management, economic or relegated to positions such as Board Secretary of these grants and loans on cooperatives has been feasibility studies, bookkeeping, planning, or Treasurer, as they are considered “culturally piecemeal. Few cooperatives have actually managed fund raising, report writing, time management, acceptable for women” but not conducive to to stand on their own following the cessation of communications, and food processing. With the decision making. funding. This dependency has constrained the exception of food processing, evidence gathered development of sustainable structures and services suggests that these training activities have had little Such problems are compounded by the fact that for cooperatives. It has also meant that the type of impact on the cooperatives and the way they are women’s additional productive tasks do not lead activities carried out is externally determined, rather run. to a lessening or sharing of tasks in the household than emerging from local initiatives and needs. with the male counterparts. Therefore, women Thus, although they have beneÀted from various continue to perform their roles in child rearing, capacity building programmes, women in Recommendation family care and household maintenance – all in cooperatives still lack certain skills in terms addition to their new roles in the informal or formal • Mechanisms relevant to the values of of Ànancial and administrative management. sector economy. As a result, they may participate cooperatives and society, such as the principle For example, most cooperatives do not provide in cooperatives but are given fewer opportunities of self-help, also need to be cultivated in order documentation on their administrative and Ànancial than men to fully engage and be represented in to diminish current dependency on donors and procedures, nor do they present annual plans or cooperative activities due to time constraints and grants. This, however, requires a signiÀcant written performance reports. numerous daily obligations in the household.
6 Mainstreaming Gender Equality Concerns in Palestinian Cooperatives Mainstreaming Gender Equality Concerns in Palestinian Cooperatives 3 Policy Brief 10 Policy Brief 10
Palestinian Women’s Employment: Table 1: Number and distribution of mixed & women Recommendation lack marketing skills within cooperatives. only cooperatives in the West Bank by sector Limited and ConÀned • There is a need to provide references and Business Development Services often concentrate Total Members Women as self-help materials for women (possibly in the Mixed & on building cooperatives’ internal capacities. The security situation and the structure of employment All cooperatives (Mixed % total Women’s context of cooperative incubators or other en- &Women’s) members combined have contributed to Palestinian women’s Sector However, few offer courses on how to market % % trepreneurship programmes), including speciÀc Number members Number members their products at the local, regional and national exclusion from paid and protected employment. Total Total business development tools to be applied for levels and promote exports internationally. This is Women’s unemployment rates are signiÀcantly Agriculture 198 16697 26 25.7 784 8.3 5% enterprises formation and management. This a signiÀcant challenge as access to the local and higher among women with 13 + years of education; Consumers 11 895 6 5.9 204 2.2 23% could entail the development of speciÀc models international markets is key to the sustainability of while women with lower levels of education are often Handicraft 11 885 7 6.9 593 5.7 59% with proper guidelines and manuals regarding project management, marketing, negotiation, Palestinian cooperatives, especially in the context discouraged workers who do not declare themselves Housing 176 6803 31 30.7 1322 14.0 19% Services 64 14222 31 31.7 6596 69.8 6% planning and time management. of the Israeli occupation. as unemployed. Total 460 101 101 100 9418 100 100 Women’s labour force participation rates in the West Box 2: ILO WEDGE Products and Business Group Formation Manual Bank (15.4 percent) and Gaza Strip (11.7 percent) Participation of Palestinian women in cooperatives The Women’s Entrepreneurship Development and Gender Equality (WEDGE) Programme: remain low (PCBS, 2010). While employment rates is highest in the handicrafts sector, representing for Palestinian women had historically been low, they 59 percent of the total. Membership in Palestinian • Women Entrepreneurship Development Capacity-Building Guide cooperatives has traditionally been male dominated have further declined in the past decade. The Women’s Entrepreneurship Development (WED) Capacity Building Guide is a training tool aimed since out of the 461 registered in 2009 in the West at improving the skills of staff in small and medium enterprise support institutions and projects in Most working women can be found in agriculture and Bank, only 101 actually have women members. developing countries. services where they work without pay as contributing Gender disparity is mainly attributed to women’s The guide helps support institutions to provide more effective services and improve their services to family workers or with very limited returns. The limited access to and control over the physical largest proportion of women’s employment is in and Ànancial resources needed for obtaining women entrepreneurs. The WED guide takes into consideration many issues that women entrepreneurs experience in starting, formalizing and expanding their own enterprises. clerical work at the low-end of the pay scale. The relatively high levels of women’s participation in the • Gender and Entrepreneurship Together (GET Ahead) agricultural sector are to be explained through massive Gender and Entrepreneurship Together (GET Ahead) is an ILO training package that assists ILO employment in subsistence agriculture and seasonal partner organization to promote enterprise development among poor women who want to be, or skilled work. These jobs are usually undertaken by already are, engaged in small scale business through market oriented business services. It emphasizes the older cohort of women who have little education. the importance of the household and cooperatives in insuring success of women entrepreneurs. Low economic returns from agriculture have been Business Group Formation Trainer’s Manual exacerbated by climatic and natural downturns which have rendered work in agriculture unviable for the This manual helps trainers to promote group formation as a way to empower women younger generation of Palestinian women in general and men in low income communities. It is designed for use in workshops to facilitate and those living in urban areas and refugee camps in the process of group formation and development for joint production, business and/or social activities, such as buying raw materials together, sharing particular. business premises, joint marketing and mutual assistance in coping with family emergencies. Recent History of Women Cooperatives Source: ILO 2004 in the WBGS Despite the relatively long history of the Palestinian cooperative movement, women’s participation in cooperatives is relatively recent. Most women 5. Overcoming Barriers through Enhanced Recommendation • There is a need to Ànd special markets to cooperatives have been established after 2000 as Skills and Market Access a result of externally motivated factors, including disseminate rural products, such as dried donor funding priorities toward cooperative Due to the lack of policies regulating import fruits, embroidery and other handicrafts. This development. Awareness is therefore still limited of products and encouraging local production, should include the development of linkages regarding local communities’ self-interest, cooperatives in general, and women-only with both the local and international markets governance and cooperation principles, as well as cooperatives in particular, Ànd themselves and the enhancement of women’s knowledge cooperative projects that display the productive competing with low-cost products from abroad. in marketing, product quality improvement and capacities of women on a large scale. Paultry Farming Cooperative - SalÀt This unfair competition is further exacerbated by a value chain processes.
2 Mainstreaming Gender Equality Concerns in Palestinian Cooperatives Mainstreaming Gender Equality Concerns in Palestinian Cooperatives 7 Policy Brief 10
ILO Response Policy Brief 10 A Training of Trainers (TOT) workshop was conducted using ILO cooperative management tools (Basic Cooperative Knowledge, Policy and Law including ILO Rec. 193, Group Formation, Cooperative Management and Leadership, Gender Mainstreaming in Cooperatives, BDS and Value Chain Analysis in Cooperatives, Basic Economics of an Agricultural Cooperative and Basic Training Methodology). Mainstreaming Gender Equality Concerns Around 27 extension workers were trained to provide training and counselling to women cooperatives. in Palestinian Cooperatives The workshop was organized in March 2010, and aimed to: increase the volume of business and improve the quality of products and services of women cooperatives; access to local and international markets; develop linkages with mixed co-ops and cooperative unions and replicate good practices of women Summary cooperatives. The core objective of the workshop was to equip participants with the skills to work as cooperative extension workers and promote women cooperatives in the West Bank and Gaza Strip This policy brief presents the summary of a study1 through the provision of cooperative management and leadership trainings, as well as consultancy and from the International Labour Organization (ILO) business development service on women cooperatives in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (WBGS). It highlights the overall security Following the ToT workshop for women cooperatives, action plans and capacity building project and employment context as well as underling proposals for women cooperatives were developed with the support of the women cooperative’s challenges to Palestinian women’s participation in extension workers and ILO team, these action plans and capacity building projects aimed at building cooperatives. Finally, it recommends strategies to the capacity of women cooperatives and enhance their skills to better manage their cooperatives as well encourage the development of new women-only as to increase number of, or membership within, women-only cooperatives in WBGS. cooperatives while strengthening existing cooperatives.
The Socio-Political Context The living conditions of Palestinians in the WBGS are radically different from other Arab countries. The territories have been subject to the longest occupation in modern history, affecting all aspects of economic development through the control of the economy, land, resources, borders, urban growth and the movement of persons, goods, and services. As a result, a profound employment crisis is affecting Palestinian workers throughout the Bethlehem Cooperative WBGS. Enterprises operate far below full Bethlehem Cooperative capacity, businesses are routinely shut down, and References: new investment projects are deferred or shelved. Contact information: restrictions on workers who work in Israel and • ILO 2008 a: Report of the Director-General on Workers work less than full time, lose their jobs the settlements. Since the outbreak of the second the situation of workers of the occupied Arab and search for alternatives that are unpredictable International Labour Organization Intifada in 2000, Israel has unilaterally restricted the territories. (Geneva) [English & Arabic]. or inadequately remunerated, leaving their families Regional OfÀce for Arab States to struggle with various coping strategies (ILO, Áow of Palestinian workers into the Israeli labour • www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/-ed_ Aresco Centre, 11th & 12th Áoors 2008a). market by building the Separation Wall. It has also norms/-relconf/documents/meetingdocument/ Justinien Street, Kantari, Beirut, Lebanon reduced to a minimum the issuance of permits for wcms_093729.pdf Tel: (961) 1 752400 Fax: (961) 1 752406 These problems are compounded by Israeli Palestinians to work in Israel. Yet in the absence • ILO2008b: Unprotected Employment in the of sufÀcient income-earning opportunities in the Jerusalem OfÀce West Bank and Gaza Strip: A Gender Equality 1 The study “Mainstreaming Gender Equality Concerns WBGS, many jobless Palestinian men, women, and Workers’ Rights Perspective, Regional P.O. Box 51359 in Palestinian Cooperatives: A situation analysis and needs and children venture to Israeli settlements for work OfÀce for Arab States (Beirut) [English & Tel: (972) 2 6260212 Fax: (972) 2 627646 assessment” was conducted by Amer Madi, Joan Jubran, Omar in homes, businesses, and agriculture under unsafe Arabic]. Abu Ghoush, Shawkat Sarsour, and Tahreer Araj, in 2009 under the http://www.ilo.org.lb MDG-F programme’s outcome on “Women’s Empowerment and and unhealthy working and living arrangements • www.ilo.org/gender/Informationresources/ http://www.ilo.org/gender Gender Equality in the oPt” funded by the Spanish Government. (ILO 2008b). lang-en/docName-WCMS_097715/index.htm
Photo Credits: Union of Cooperatives Association for Saving and Credit
8 Mainstreaming Gender Equality Concerns in Palestinian Cooperatives