BETHLEHEM, West Bank / PNN / 

Al-Noor Association for Persons with Disabilities has launched a project aimed at strengthening protection, resilience and rights for marginalised women and girls with disabilities in Aida refugee camp, in cooperation with UN Women and the United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence against Women.

Ru’a Abu Odeh, director of Al-Noor Association and the project, said the association is implementing the four-year project, titled “Strengthening Protection, Resilience and Rights of Women and Girls with Disabilities in Aida Refugee Camp,” with funding from the UN Women Fund.

Abu Odeh said the project aims to support children with disabilities and women and strengthen protection services across Bethlehem governorate, with a particular focus on refugee camps, including Aida, Al-Azza and Dheisheh camps.

The project will focus on several areas, including community participation, inclusive services, leadership and empowerment, mental health and resilience, and safety and protection.

Abu Odeh said the programme would complement rather than duplicate existing programmes run by the Palestinian Ministry of Social Development. UNRWA, she said, will serve as the project's main umbrella organisation, in cooperation with the ministry.

Through the partnership, Al-Noor plans to reach as many women and children with disabilities as possible, particularly those most in need, and provide support and services tailored to their needs.

The project also includes mechanisms to raise awareness and promote the rights of persons with disabilities at different levels.

A major component focuses on protecting and empowering children, particularly children and girls with disabilities, by strengthening life skills and promoting the early identification of cases of violence and abuse so that appropriate interventions can be provided in a timely manner.

Early intervention and child protection

Dr. Walid al-Khatib, the project's coordinator and a retired Health Ministry official, said he previously served as a deputy director general at the ministry in the field of public health.

He said child protection was among the programmes he worked on for 14 years across Palestine.

Al-Khatib said the project places particular emphasis on girls and children with disabilities, as well as children more broadly, recognising child protection as a sensitive and important issue involving a range of national and local partners.

Exposure to any form of abuse or violence can affect children's behaviour, future prospects and social and health conditions, he said.

The project therefore focuses on two main areas.

The first is empowering children through modern educational and cognitive approaches based on life skills, helping strengthen their self-confidence while developing both practical and cognitive abilities.

The second is the early detection of cases involving any form of violence or abuse, allowing timely health, medical and therapeutic intervention, as well as legal intervention when necessary.

Some cases may require the involvement of police, the Family Protection Unit and other relevant authorities, al-Khatib said, to ensure children receive the necessary support at the appropriate time and to prevent longer-term social, psychological, behavioural or health consequences.

Official and civil society partners

Official and civil society organisations involved in community services welcomed the launch of the project, describing it as an opportunity to strengthen services for people with disabilities and expressing their readiness to cooperate in its implementation.

Mohammed al-Jaafari, director general of public affairs in Bethlehem governorate, said the governorate was taking part in the launch of the project, which targets people with disabilities as one of the marginalised groups in Palestinian society and is being implemented through Al-Noor in refugee camps.

Al-Jaafari thanked the project's partners and supporters, particularly the United Nations fund, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, known as UNRWA, and other international organisations supporting the programme.

He said the project will run for four years and aims to strengthen protection for a group that should receive the highest levels of protection within Palestinian society, particularly amid the difficult circumstances Palestinians have faced as a result of decades of Israeli occupation.

Women welcome the initiative

Women attending the launch expressed support for the project and hope that it would help improve conditions for people with disabilities and their families.

Hala Muhaysin, from the Bethlehem village of Za'atara, said her children receive treatment at Al-Noor Association, which has provided her family with a range of services, including psychological support sessions for mothers of children with disabilities.

She said she attended the sessions for an extended period and that they significantly increased her self-confidence and helped her learn how to care for and interact with her children with disabilities in a healthier and more appropriate way.

Muhaysin stressed the importance of making such sessions available to all mothers, saying they helped her overcome many of the difficulties and concerns she had previously faced.

Her experience with the sessions, she said, enabled her to interact with her children more naturally and treat them like her other children at home, without feeling that they should be treated differently.

She praised Al-Noor Association for providing the services and encouraged mothers to benefit from the project, particularly its programmes aimed at protecting and empowering women and mothers with disabilities and other marginalised groups.

The “Strengthening Protection, Resilience and Rights of Women and Girls with Disabilities in Aida Refugee Camp” project is intended to increase community awareness of the rights of persons with disabilities while providing beneficiaries with access to support and opportunities across several areas.

By combining protection, empowerment, mental health, life-skills development and early intervention, organisers hope the project will provide women and children with disabilities with greater opportunities to participate in their communities and exercise their rights.