COUNTRY PROFILE 1. Palestine

EU – DG Research 6th Framework Programme GEWAMED Project CIHEAM – IAMB COUNTRY PROFILE1 Palestine Palestine, represented currently in the West Ba...
Author: Kerry Franklin
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EU – DG Research

6th Framework Programme

GEWAMED Project

CIHEAM – IAMB

COUNTRY PROFILE1 Palestine

Palestine, represented currently in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, has a unique geographic location at the intersection between three continents, Africa, Asia and Europe and between very different ecological zones (Irano-Turanian, Mediterranean, Saharo Arabian and Sudanian), which result in a variety of ecosystems. The West Bank and Gaza Strip (W&G) are located east to the Mediterranean Sea and their total area (including the Palestinian part of the Dead Sea) is about 6245 km2 (365 km2 in Gaza Strip). It is populated by more than 3.5 million Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics 1997 survey. Water resources Palestine represented in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (W&G) is an area with very limited natural resources. The geographic, political and socio-economic uniqueness of this area imposes additional pressure on these resources.

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The material presented in this country profile is a summary of the information presented in the references and does not represent the opinion of the EC, nor is the EC responsible for any use that might be made of this information.

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EU – DG Research

6th Framework Programme

GEWAMED Project

CIHEAM – IAMB

Although there is a deep understanding and appreciation of the water scarcity problem in Palestine, the complicated political situation is standing as a serious obstacle towards an efficient integrated management of the available water resources. Palestine is among the countries with the scarcest renewable water resources per capita due to both natural and artificial constraints, amounting to only 100 m³ per capita per year. It is worth mentioning that due to the current political situation Palestinians have very restricted access to their groundwater resources and no access to surface water represented mainly by the Jordan River. Table 1. Approximate breakdown of the yearly available water resources in Palestine Source Approximate Capacity (MCM) Groundwater 785 Surface water 52 Spring water 121 Wastewater 16 Runoff 73 Total 1047

Rural women Palestinian women in the rural community play many basic roles that have a large impact on rural development opportunities. Unfortunately, these roles are not always socially appreciated as they should be. Actually, women still face many constraints. Some examples are given below: - They don’t have access to the money made through food production; - They still suffer from social restrictions and discriminations. Most often they don’t participate in the decision-making process and they have limited access to both resources and services. The result is that nearly one fifth of rural Palestinian women cannot read or write, only 65% have finished the primary school; 30% are forced to marry before the age of 18, and 8% of young girls, against 4% of boys, drop out of school; - Since women are the main water resource managers in the home, they attempt to decrease the amounts of water used for domestic purpose in order to lower their water bills or ration the existing water resources. But this rationing increases unsanitary methods and creates food insecurity among rural populations; - Most young women in the villages are encouraged (when encouraged) to work in the public sector and are not involved in occupations regarding resource management; - The proportion of households living under poverty conditions reaches 60%, a number that achieves 73% in households headed by women; - Even though women play a fundamental role in agriculture (they carry out 65% of agricultural activities) 48% of them don’t receive any salary. In rural areas Palestinian women are primarily responsible for family consumption. Often, they play the major role in planning family consumption in terms of size and timing, despite the limited resources of most Palestinian families in such areas. However, women often succeed in measuring family economic matters, and serve as a safety economic valve for the family.

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EU – DG Research

6th Framework Programme

GEWAMED Project

CIHEAM – IAMB

In addition to their role in the consumption process, women assume an important role in rural production by helping men in the field and in other activities although difficult. The role of women in water management Women’s role in water management is vital since they are the real custodians of their family’s water requirements. Domestic water is used for processing and preparing food, drinking, bathing and washing, irrigating home gardens and watering livestock. Women know the location, reliability and quality of local water resources. They collect water, store it and control its use and sanitation. They recycle water, using grey water for washing and irrigation and runoff from these for livestock.They care more than men do about the quality of the water used, in order to have a healthy family, especially when it comes to children. Irrigation systems tend to favour mono cropping, often for the production of cash crops, and thus may exclude provisions for a more diversified cropping pattern supporting a variety of food crops. As men usually control cash crops, decisions regarding the scheduling of irrigation water tend to be made without considering women's farm and household activities. Since women must depend on small-scale or hand irrigation, they have difficulties in coping with drought. Often the technologies available to them do not respond to their needs, such as pumps that have handles they cannot reach or manipulate or that they have not been trained to repair. The lack of an effective participatory water management combined with the scarcity of water and the deterioration of its quality is a major driving force for many social, environmental and physical setbacks like food insecurity, water use inefficiency, soil degradation and pollution. It is now recognised that the exclusion of women from the planning of water supply and sanitation schemes is a major cause of their high rate of failure. International initiatives, such as the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade and the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), have been instrumental in promoting the role of women in water management. They are increasingly trained on water pump operation and maintenance and perform leadership roles in Drinking Water Users' Organizations. In spite of this, water resources management and irrigation programmes and projects are mostly directed to men and to the crops they grow. Women’s “secondary” crops (vegetables, fruits, spices and traditional food crops) and their non-agricultural water consuming activities (for example watering small animals, cooking, laundry, bathing, etc.) are simply not visible and in many cases are not taken into account when calculating water needs. Yet, the incorporation of gender issues in the planning, design and implementation of irrigation programmes has been far more limited despite the number of studies documenting the failure of irrigation schemes due to mistaken assumptions regarding the intra-household division of labour and organization of production. Some statistical indicators on the relations between women and water 1. 92% of Palestinian households have washing machines to wash laundry, which could contribute to:

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EU – DG Research

a. b. c. d.

6th Framework Programme

GEWAMED Project

CIHEAM – IAMB

Alleviate women's work; Save time; Increase water consumption; Expand the practical options for women.

2. 5.4% of Palestinian households depend on domestic water cisterns. 3. 9.5% of Palestinian families are not connected to public water supply and they suffer from higher water prices. 4. Breastfeeding rate among women reached up to 96%. 5. 55% of Palestinian families dump their wastewater in cesspits; this threatens their access to cisterns and groundwater. 6. In Palestine the water consumption rate ranges between 1.5% and 2.5% of the family income.

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EU – DG Research

6th Framework Programme

GEWAMED Project

CIHEAM – IAMB

REFERENCES M. Abdellatif (PARC), 2007. Mainstreaming Gender Dimensions in Water management for Food Security. Presented at the GEWAMED Second Regional Coordination Workshop, “Mainstreaming Gender Dimensions in Water Management for Food Security and Food Safety”, 12-14 March 2007, Larnaca, Cyprus. Issam Nofal, Aiman Rabi, Basim Dudeen, 2003. Some Aspects Of Participatory Water Saving Management And Water Cultural Heritage In The West Bank And Gaza StripPalestine. Presented at the WASAMED Workshop, “Participatory Water Saving and Water Cultural Heritage”, 15-19 December 2003, Sanliurfa, Turkey.

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