Who answers to Gazan women? An economic security and rights research – UN Women report

Introduction – Purpose

To understand how the last decade of violent conflict has affected women's economic security and rights in the Gaza Strip

More specifically to:

Uncover the diverse livelihood strategies Gazan women have developed in order to sustain their households during the past decade of economic collapse and impoverishment
Analyze the complex obstacles women must navigate in order to undertake economic roles, and how the different stages of crisis have affected them
Understand whether meeting these challenges has led to transformations in women's roles and responsibilities and to an expansion of their economic rights within households and in Gaza more generally
Assess the role of humanitarian interventions in enabling women's livelihood strategies in the Gaza Strip

Introduction – Methodology

Multiple data sources:

Palestine Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) – data sets relevant to understanding women's economic activism in the Gaza Strip
Desk review of studies on various dimensions of the prolonged crisis in Gaza as they relate to gender and economic livelihoods
Focus group discussions with Gazan women across different communities and engaged in different livelihood strategies (total of 17)
In-depth interviews with women whose experiences highlighted critical issues uncovered in the focus groups (total of 12)

Issues and Area Covered

Women's strategies in the three areas of economic activity where most active:

Within each:

Issues and dynamics women face specific to the particular activity
The role of gender norms and constraints
The differential impact of siege, economic blockade, internal violence and Israeli military violence
Women’s access to and control over economic assets
The role of humanitarian interventions

The Gaza Context

A decade of crisis – Four main phases

“Crisis” is prolonged, multi-layered, comprehensive and cumulative.

2019-03-12T19:23:15-04:00

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