Promoting and protecting the rights of women workers in the agricultural sector in Palestine

Project activities

• Training 18 female staff members at GUAFI to provide advice in-person and via the helpline (hotline) in response to complaints made by workers, specifically related to the agricultural sector
• 1 day training workshop for the coordinators of the GUAFI Women's Department in the agricultural sector - to support strategy development and planning.
• 1000 awareness raising brochures on Palestinian labour law, challenging discrimination, ILO Convention 190 - Violence and Harassment, and organising
• 1000 awareness raising brochures focused on health and safety
• 35 field visits to engage with workers about their rights at work, working conditions, and benefits of joining a union (taking into consideration the impacts of the occupation).
• 1-day training workshops for women workers will take place in Jericho, Nablus, Jenine and Tubas focussed on Palestinian and Israeli labour law, challenging discrimination, gender-based violence, gender equality, ILO Convention 190, organising tactics and encouraging participation in trade union democracy. 80 women will be trained in total.
• 1-day training workshops for women workers will take place in Jericho, Nablus, Jenine and Tubas focussed on health and safety. 80 women will be trained in total.

Project outcomes

• GUAFI will have increased organisational capacity with a cadre of 18 staff specifically trained to document cases and provide advice to workers in the agriculture sector - either via the helpline or in person.
• Up-to-date and sector specific evidence obtained through the project activities will enable GUAFI, particularly the Women’s Organisational Department, to strengthen their strategic approach and planning to address the challenges faced by women workers in the agriculture sector, including when bargaining with Palestinian employers and engaged in social dialogue.
• Through field visits and access to the brochures, 200-300 women workers in the agriculture sector will have increased awareness, knowledge and understanding of their rights, labour laws, health and safety, challenging gender-based violence, and the benefits of joining a union (where this is possible in the context of the occupation and settlement work).
• An expected outcome is that women workers will feel more empowered to raise their concerns, seek advice from the GUAFI in-person or via the helpline, and to better defend their rights.
• Through training and access to the brochures, 80 women workers will have deepened their knowledge and understanding of Palestinian and Israeli  labour law, challenging discrimination, gender-based violence, gender equality, ILO Convention 190, organising tactics, and have a better understanding of how to defend their rights.  
• Through training and access to the brochures, 80 women will have increased understanding of occupational health and safety, including the impacts of pesticides on reproductive health, and occupational diseases. They will have a better understanding of how to defend their rights, including through forming health and safety committees.
• GUAFI and PGFTU will have up to date evidence to share with the ILO for its report ‘The situation of workers in the occupied Arab territories’, and with the ITUC for the purposes of advocacy.