As part of the coordination and cooperation between An-Najah University and the institutions of civil society, the University participated in organizing a seminar titled “The Obstacles Facing Women’s Participation in Urban Planning and the Chances for Reinforcing Her Political, Social and Urban Rights”.

The seminar came as part of a project designed to reinforce the women’s political, social and urban rights in the West Bank which is implemented by the International Peace and Cooperation Center in Jerusalem and sponsored by the Olof Palme International Center in Sweden. The project was also implemented in partnership with the Urban and Regional Planning Unit at An-Najah and Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development (PWWSD).

The seminar included several papers and speeches. Ms. Azfeltlana Doric, Project Coordinator at the Olof Palme International Center and Mr. Adeeb Saleem, Project Coordinator at the delivered International Peace and Cooperation Center, delivered the opening speeches. Following that was the first work paper which was titled “The Reality of Women’s Political Participation in Local Bodies” by Mrs. Samar Haawwash, President of the Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development. In her paper, Mrs. Hawwash spoke about the changes that took place in the Palestinian society with respect to the participation of women in the society especially with respect to politics. She also explained the obstacles that face the participation of women in local councils and civil society institutions.

Dr. Ali Abddel Hameed, Director of the Urban and Regional Planning Center at the University, presented a paper on urban and developmental planning for the needs of women in the urban context. In his paper, Dr. Abdel Hameed spoke about the development of women’s role and her participation in development, the methods adopted to integrate women in the developmental process, the importance of the social kind in urban planning, the needs of women in the urban environment, as well as the mans to reinforce the participation of women in urban planning.

Dr. Fida’ Yaseen from the Department of Urban Planning Engineering spoke in her paper about the role of women and their needs with respect to planning the urban environment in Palestine. She also spoke about the role that women played in the past and present to impact urban planning and pointed out that a number of services and special needs attributed to women should be met.

At the end of the seminar, the participants agreed on the need for more attention to be paid to such issues and to make collective efforts between the different bodies in Palestine in order to reinforce the participation of women in urban planning and development in Palestine.