Palestine: Building awareness of reproductive rights

The Palestinian Independent Commission on Human Rights recently held workshops in the West Bank and Gaza to raise awareness around reproductive rights and how they apply to the local setting.

The workshops are a follow-up activity to a major regional consultation in June 2011 involving national human rights from across the Asia Pacific region, jointly organised by the APF and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

The Commission hosted two workshops in cooperation with UNFPA country representatives to provide staff members with an opportunity to discuss the principles and concept of reproductive rights.

Staff also developed a number of suggestions for integrating reproductive rights into the work of the Commission, such as:

• conducting joint research projects with UNFPA
• reviewing draft legislation for consistency with reproductive rights, and
• incorporating reproductive rights into training programs.

In addition, the Commission hosted a workshop in Gaza in October to draw attention to the issue of violence against women in the Palestinian territories.

An overview of the Commission’s follow-up activities is available on the APF’s Reproductive Rights webpage.

Date: 20 October 2011