Since the beginning we are committed to women issues and we are networking with different women organization to insure Palestinian women citizens of Israel are achieving their rights, parallel we are committed to work with the most marginalized women in our society. In 2007 we identified 4 marginalized groups in our society: women in the unrecognized villages, young women, women with disability and women in poverty. Since 2007 and until today we developed several projects for each subgroup some are continuing until today and some we decided to withdraw and some were handed over to other organization to continue the work with.

 

Our activities are centered on the unique attributes and abilities of women. Our role is to empower women to use these qualities by creating opportunities and serving as a support system for women as they endeavor to develop and try new things and enter into new, or even old, roles in a very traditional society.

 

In our organization we have been developing a new approach of empowerment that originated from the situation, culture and beliefs of women in our society. We start with the individual women, where they are at, without marking their steps or deciding their path of empowerment and without assuming that they lack or need certain skills. We believe that empowerment is about believing in the abilities of women and creating opportunities for women to use their abilities within their society.

 

Many Palestinian women share the same basic problems, which is the severe lack of support groups for these women. They generally receive little or no support from their families or from society. The Center provides this much-needed support for women. Through the Center’s activities many women are attracted to theCenter, are brought together, meet each other, and learn about their similarities. The professional staff and volunteers have the distinct perspective of serving as a support system for women in a changing society. However, the desire to improve or change has to originate from the woman herself. Each woman makes her own decision about what she sees as needs and priorities in a supportive atmosphere. The Center does not give women a set of rules of empowerment, however, it sees its role as a supporting one, for women going through a process developing personalities, self-esteem, confidence and abilities. The Center creates opportunities for women to discover skills they already have as well as learning new ones.