Category: Latest news

Jalil, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, the Social Aid Society organised an interactive seminar and an open dialogue entitled “Partners in the Struggle, Partners in Decision-Making”, in the presence of the People’s Committees and the UNRWA Director in Al-Jalil camp representative of educational, social and health institutions and associations, and clerics.

After welcoming the audience by Ms. Noor Al-Bakai, coordinator of the Women’s and Girls’ Rights Program – Bekaa, she delivered the speech on Women’s Day and focussed on ; ‘The role of women’s struggle in all historical stations and their distinctive role’. The militant role of the late colleague Samira Abu Al-Foul and glimpses of Palestinian women’s struggle were presented. From the beginning, Palestinian women were and still are partners of men in the Defence of the homeland and had organised and influential Defence initiatives.

Ms. Leila Marwa, former president of the women’s gathering, spoke, “On the militant history of women and what the purple colour symbolises dignity and justice, and about legal violence against women in Lebanon, personal status laws, labour laws and others”.

Dr. Aziza Al-Khalidi, a consultant on gender issues, spoke about “women’s participation in the struggle and their achievements and the challenges faced by women in connection with the Palestinian cause and the sacrifices made by Palestinian women, which will be presented in the future and confirmed the integration of women with political life, decision-making and self-determination,” and there were a number of interventions and discussions to clarify

Nahr el-Bared, Association Najdeh received a delegation from the management of UNICEF and the Taawon Association. The delegation included the Director of the Palestinian Program at UNICEF, Mr. Nazih Yacoub, and Ms. Heba Abu Rashid from the Palestinian Program. Furthermore, the delegation included, Ms. Hana Al-Khalil, Coordinator of the Early Childhood Program, and Mr. Firas Totongi, Coordinator of the Education Program from the Taawon Association, and their accompanying delegation. The delegation was received by the coordinator of the Nawal Bard Branch, Ms. Nawal Hassan and the Association Najdeh team. The visit came within the framework of inspection and a follow-up to the ‘Early Childhood Education Support Project’. The delegation toured the kindergarten and participated in the activities of a group of children. Where in conclusion, interventions were made on the situation of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.

Al-Badawi, for the occasion of International Women’s Day, Association Najdeh organised an interactive and open dialogue seminar under the title: Partners in the Struggle, Partners in the Decision Making. In the presence of the popular committees in the camp and women’s unions and representatives of educational, social and health institutions and associations, scout bodies and sports clubs. Mrs. Hanaa Al-Enein, the coordinator of the Badawi branch, after welcoming the attendance , delivered the speech on Women’s Day and focussed on ‘The role of women’s struggle in all historical stations and their distinctive role”. Glimpses of the struggle of Palestinian women were presented, from the beginning Palestinian women were and still are partners of men in the Defence of the homeland and had organised and influential Defence initiatives.

Mrs. Nariman Al-Shamla, President of Association Donia for Sustainable Development, Ms. Faiza and Nass, Musharafaat from Riad Al-Ittihad, in the North region, spoke about the role of Palestinian women in supporting the cause throughout their history in all fields. Their speakers also shed light on their role in relation with the circumstances and issues Palestinian women are currently going through. Therefore, the role of women in the captive movement and the arenas of struggle were highlighted, and there were a number of interventions and discussions to clarify several concepts.

Al-Badawi refugee camp welcomed Association Najdeh a delegation under UNICEF represented by Ms. Judy Cankara, Ms. Hiba Abu-Rashid, and Mr. Ernest alongside the representative for the Foundation of Medical Aid for Palestinians, Mr. Mahmoud Al-Adwei. Furthermore, the delegation was accompanied by the representative Ms. Buthaina Saad, deputy of Association Najdeh and head of the projects and programs within Association Najdeh. The visit came within the framework of an inspection and follow-up for the project concerned with support and services for the protection of children, women, and families within the refugee camps and and gatherings of Palestinians. The delegation toured the centre of education and psychological support. The group participated in an activity for the children, in attempt to create equality between girls and boys, alongside various other activities, with the final goal being to improve the situation of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon within the camps.

20/02/2024

With the arrival of the blessed month of Ramadan, we extend our heartfelt gratitude for your continued support of our campaigns. We are delighted to announce the launch of our Ramadan campaign, “From You to Them,” by the Social Affairs Programme at Association Najdeh. This campaign aims to bolster the resilience of refugee families in Palestinian camps and gatherings in Lebanon. We invite you to participate in our “From You to Them” campaign through your contributions and donations.

To get involved, please contact Mrs. Yousra Al-Jarad, Head of the Social Affairs Programme, or visit our association branches, or use the following account numbers:

Thank you for your generosity and support.

08/02/2024

As the Israeli/American war against UNRWA intensifies during the peak of the genocide in Gaza, several civil society organisations working with Palestinian refugees in Lebanon convened to discuss the role of civil society in countering this ongoing attack on the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties, as stipulated by UN Resolution 194. This attack is manifested through the targeting of UNRWA and the insistence on dismantling it by reducing its services and seeking alternatives.

The attendees agreed on the following points:

First: The decision to suspend aid to UNRWA by the United States and certain Western countries compliant with its policies coincided with Israel’s ongoing attempts to eliminate the refugee issue, the genocide against Gaza, and the preliminary decision of the International Court of Justice, which in its fourth clause mandated the provision of urgent services and humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza. This constitutes a blatant and immoral violation of the ICJ ruling and the obligations of these countries under international law and human rights principles. UNRWA is the primary entity qualified to provide services and prevent the deterioration of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Second: The suspension of aid to UNRWA aligns with Israel’s declared plans to completely eliminate UNRWA in post-war “day-after” arrangements, which involve stages such as filing a legal case against UNRWA, seeking alternatives, and eventually transferring its responsibilities to another international entity. The devastating impact of suspending services will have catastrophic consequences, primarily exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and affecting all Palestinian refugees in UNRWA’s areas of operation, especially in Lebanon, where Palestinian refugees have been suffering from the ongoing socio-economic crisis for years.

The civil society organisations in Lebanon emphasise the following:

• The suspension of aid to UNRWA constitutes a violation of the International Court of Justice ruling and amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
• Countries that have suspended their aid to UNRWA are urged to reverse their stance and fulfil their commitments to UNRWA and the Palestinian refugees.
• Any transfer of UNRWA’s responsibilities to other international or local entities is rejected, and there is a firm commitment to the agency and its mandate as stipulated by the UN General Assembly.
• A local, regional, and international advocacy campaign will be launched to support UNRWA and the Palestinian refugee cause, with preparations for this campaign already underway and to be announced soon.

Palestinian Civil Society Organisations in Lebanon

Beirut, 8 February 2024

Beirut, Burj Al-Barajneh camp, Association Najdeh, and the Movement for Peace organisation, launched the project “Humanitarian support and protection services for women, families of Palestinian and Syrian refugees and communities in Shatila and Burj Al-Barajneh refugee camps in Lebanon.”

The project spans for the duration of 18 months, through which we seek to strengthen the resilience and protection of refugees and giving priority to survivors of gender-based violence.

The project will provide; services and interventions of a holistic nature to 770 Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese families, support 200 women and girls who survived gender-based violence or at risk of violence or girls at risk of early marriage, it will provide unconditional cash assistance, awareness sessions and activities to advocate for women’s and girls’ issues and to combat gender-based violence, legal advice and services related to the rights and protection of women and girls in personal status laws, and initiatives to strengthen the community resilience of women and girls through the use of common skills and experiences to enable them to support themselves and bring about sustainable positive change.

This project is funded by the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for Development.

In Beirut, within the framework of interactive capacity-building, the Women’s and Girls’ Rights Program organised a training workshop on the protection of women and girls under the law.

The training dealt with the law on the protection of women and other family members from domestic violence Law No. 293, and the law on harassment in public places and the criminalisation of sexual harassment and the rehabilitation of its victims, with the participation of the program’s work team.

Professor Brigitte Shalabian facilitated the training in coordination with the Justice Without Borders Foundation, as part of the project to enable women to participate in Political and public life. Applying the forever relevant mantra, Women Can Do It. This is Backed by Norwegian Popular Aid.

Association Najdeh launched a campaign providing medical check-ups to raise awareness for breast cancer within the refugee camps and communities for Palestinians in Lebanon, celebrating women alongside the rest of the world in October, which is the month of breast cancer awareness. A yearly event with the aim to shed light on the importance of administering the test early on, and the prevention of what is the number one risk of death in women and girls in the world in general, and within the Palestinian community specifically. The outreach of the awareness campaign reached a vast number of beneficiaries for the early detection of breast cancer, where 561 women had the test administered to them. In coordination with health organisations a radiology device was provided for the detection of the early stages of breast cancer, utilising a mammogram technique. The number of women who were examined with this technique reached 164 women. This was in partnership with associations and organisations operating in the Palestinian refugee camps and communities in Lebanon.

Tyre, Shabriha gathering, Association Najdeh, in cooperation with Norwegian People’s Aid, launched the “Breathe” initiative on anger, within the Women’s and Girls’ Rights Program.

This involves the making of community initiatives to enable women to participate in political and public life at the Shabriha Community for Palestinian Refugees, in Tyre, under the patronage of the elected Shabriha Raza Aoun, with the participation of the People’s Committee, Institutions and NGOs.

The initiative comes in the sense, “Breathe” away anger – we talk to mitigate domestic violence by acquiring skills to deal with anger. People usually express their anger in negative ways such as the use of violence, including violence against women.

Therefore, the initiative aims to encourage to ‘Breathe’ for the acquisition of skills to deal with anger in positive ways, which leads to reducing violence in general, towards women in particular, and thus enhancing protection from violence. It is in efforts to aid people in acquiring the skill of venting anger in healthy ways, which is reflected on the health of women and the family as a whole.

As the official of the Women’s and Girls’ Rights Program, Hiba Hajaj stressed the importance of the initiative.

This initiative had a positive echo in the Palestinian gathering as it enabled women to assume prominent positions in political and public life, where two main points were given to allow one to vent their anger in the gathering.