Today, The Center for Women’s Legal Researches, Counselling and Protection (CWLRCP) launched the project “A Holistic Approach to Sheltering Services for Abused Women and Survivors of Violence in Palestine” at the new headquarters of the “Hayat” project. This project is in partnership with UN Women and funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation.

The meeting was attended by Her Excellency Minister of Women’s Affairs Dr. Haifa Al-Agha, Ms. Heba Al-Zayan, Director of UN Women’s Programs in Palestine, and a number of directors and representatives of institutions partnering with the Center, in addition to the presence of the Judicial Police and Public Relations of the Abbas Police. Ms. Islah Hassanieh, Chairperson of the Center’s Board of Directors, welcomed the attendees. In her opening remarks, the Director of the Center, Ms. Zeinab Al-Ghunaimi, pointed out the importance of the Center’s partnership with institutions and centers that receive women victims of violence, who need the Center’s interventions, according to case management and referral pathways.

She pointed to the project “A Holistic Approach to Sheltering Services for Abused Women and Survivors of Violence in Palestine,” which aims to improve access for abused women and survivors of violence to protection services for their rehabilitation in society, by providing psychological, social, and legal support services to them.

In her speech, the Minister of Women’s Affairs, Dr. Haifa Al-Agha, affirmed the role of protection houses in Palestine in protecting women from violence, especially those threatened with danger, and the role of the “Hayat” project in protecting and empowering women, whether through their rehabilitation and reintegration into society, in addition to the need to continue empowering women economically through supporting small projects, noting that “the phenomenon of violence stands as an obstacle to real development and has become a violation of the most basic human rights in general and women’s rights in particular.”

For her part, Ms. Heba Al-Zayan, Director of UN Women’s Programs in Palestine, praised the continuous and ongoing role of the “Hayat” project in providing integrated services to marginalized and abused women, and those most in need of assistance and protection, noting that this continuity, in the circumstances experienced by the Gaza Strip, which is going through a humanitarian crisis, is not easy and is an achievement for all women’s institutions in the sector.