Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development- PWWSD, started its activities towards the end of the seventies of the previous Century, as a social movement. The starting point was to focus on the rights of working women and to organize them into labor committees at the work sites. Working women were encouraged to affiliate with the existing trade unions and syndicates that were active in Palestine at that time, though they were under pressure, and the occupation imposed restrictions on their work. The organization helped introduce women workers to their rights and motivated them to advocate for these rights. Step by step, the definition of working women expanded to include women working in the agricultural sector and women housewives.
Origins in Labor Organizing (Late 1970s–1981): In the year 1981, the Union of Palestinian Working Women Committees was formed, and the doors for membership and benefiting from the services were opened for all women from the various sectors and geographical areas in both the West Bank (including Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip.
Institutionalization and Expansion (1981–1991): In the year 1991, it was officially registered in Jerusalem under the name (Women Workers Society) according to the laws applied by the occupation at that time.
Shaping a Progressive Feminist Vision: The organization started keeping pace with the latest developments in women's discourse, mainly progressive social discourse that connected women’s issues with the global issues of the community, mainly ending the occupation. At that time, the Palestinian community was dominated by the traditional discourse that sought to maintain the existing habits and traditions as well as social norms, to be the backbone for resisting the occupation. The discourse promoted by PWWSD and similar organizations at that time served as a landmark within the Palestinian landscape. PWWSD realized, based on personal experiences and critical analysis of the overall situation, that women are living under structured oppression due to the presence of Israeli colonialism and the dominating patriarchal thought. PWWSD built its tendency of work on the experiences of other countries that passed the colonialism phase, like Algeria, and other countries where, after the liberation, there was no recognition of women’s rights and new forms of discrimination against women were reproduced. Bearing this experience in mind, PWWSD realized the need to start working on women’s rights and issues in parallel with the national struggle.
Pioneering Work on Gender-Based Violence: In this regard, in the year 1991, the organization arranged, in Jerusalem City, a training course about gender-based violence in coordination with the Palestinian Counselling Center (PCC). The main outcome of that training was launching the first open line for counseling in Palestine to contribute to tolling the bell regarding this issue. These efforts continued, where two years later (1993), a series of activities was arranged in parallel to the United Nations’ Meetings that took place to discuss gender-based violence, and concluded with the release of “The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women- DEVAW”.
Women’s Political Participation and Peace Processes: At the same time, PWWSD realized the significance of women’s political participation and focused on the necessity of women’s participation in the Palestinian Delegation that participated in Madrid Conference (1991) and launched the basis for the peace negotiations between the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Israeli Government, which resulted later on (in 1993), by signing the Oslo Accords between the two parties and the emergence of the Palestinian National Authority as the first Palestinian governance body on ground.
PWWSD, in coordination with the General Union of Palestinian Women (in Diaspora) and women CSOs, contributed to drafting the Palestinian Women's Strategy.
From Beijing to a Broader Rights Agenda: In 1995, PWWSD, alongside other women's organizations, participated in the Beijing Conference and the process that followed. PWWSD recognized the importance of linking its struggle for women’s rights to related international conventions, treaties, and frameworks.
New Era- New Challenges, but Different Approaches: The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) was established in 1993-1994, representing a remarkable change in the Palestinian context. PNA began taking control of parts of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and began organizing the daily affairs of the people. Drawing on its previous experience and familiarity with similar international cases (mainly countries that were liberated from colonialism), PWWSD realized that women's rights and gender equality principles must be ensured from the outset of establishing national institutions.
PWWSD continued its efforts to advocate for gender equality and women’s rights under the ruling of PNA and tried to connect its work with the international frameworks related to it. In this regard, the year 1997 witnessed the first national campaign against violence against women in accordance with the international campaign of 16 Days of Activism Against Violence Against Women. Through this campaign, PWWSD was one of the first national CSOs to start connecting women’s issues with the international frameworks.
As Palestinian women continued to face exclusion from economic and political spaces, PWWSD invested in building collective structures that could amplify women's voices and strengthen their economic resilience. Therefore, the organization encouraged women to affiliate with the existing structures, such as cooperatives, trade unions, and CBOs. PWWSD supported women cooperatives and organized new ones. Additionally, the organization also formed lending and saving groups to help women overcome unemployment and poverty. Recalling its accumulated history, PWWSD was the first organization to launch a program dedicated solely to the rights of working women. This program contributed to introducing women workers to their rights as well as organizing them in labor committees and facilitating for them to join syndicates and trade unions. Women were trained to become leaders and fulfill decision-making positions in the syndicates and trade unions, which contributed to changing the dominant stereotype that trade unions and syndicates are male-dominated fields.
In 1998, PWWSD proposed forming Shadow Councils as a formal incubator to organize women and increase their involvement in decision-making circles. The Shadow councils were dedicated to monitoring the performance of the local authorities and ensuring that gender determinants are taken into consideration. PWWSD was among the first organizations to recognize the lack of political will to engage women in decision-making; consequently, efforts were made to eliminate the barriers that hinder women’s participation in decision-making. In this regard, the Palestinian National Authority formed committees to manage the local authorities in the year 1997, where it was noticed that only 67 women were selected out of more than three thousand six hundred members. Over time, the Shadow Councils became one of PWWSD’s most distinctive models for promoting women’s participation in local governance and holding decision-makers accountable to gender-responsive policies.
In the year 1997-1998, PWWSD participated actively in the dialogue with the Palestinian National Authority to draft the NGOs Law in a manner that ensures the freedom of work of the CSOs and guarantees independence of their work.
2000-2010:
The year 2000 represents one of the beginning of one of the significant periods in the history of PWWSD. The organization was officially registered by the Palestinian Ministry of Interior, under registration number (RA/279/C), and witnessed several institutional and programming developments. At the start of the second Intifada (September 2000), the overall security and economic circumstances in Palestine deteriorated due to the attacks by the occupation. The closure imposed on the Palestinian localities resulted in damage to the quality of life of the entire population. As women are the most fragile group and the most vulnerable segment, PWWSD took sides to support women on all levels. PWWSD increased its interventions with women to provide them with psychological support to help overcome the emerging challenges. PWWSD expanded its interventions beyond advocacy and organizing, adopting more comprehensive approaches that combined rights-based work with community development, psychosocial support, and economic empowerment.
During this period and within the developments on the level of the world (including issuing the UNSCR 1325), PWWSD started the process of expansion and connecting advocating women’s rights with the international related conventions and treaties.
As PWWSD’s work expanded in scope and complexity, particularly in the post-2000 period, the organization increasingly rooted its approach in international human rights frameworks. Global instruments such as CEDAW, the Beijing Platform for Action, and UNSCR 1325 on Women, Peace and Security became key references guiding both its advocacy and programming. This alignment helped PWWSD connect local struggles with global commitments, reinforcing its efforts to advance gender equality, promote accountability, and translate international norms into meaningful change on the ground.
Shifting from Project-Oriented to Program Orientation:
As part of the institutional process of PWWSD, it shifted from implementing projects to programs. All the activities of PWWSD were grouped under three major Programs: Women Empowerment in the Decision-Making Process, Women Economic Empowerment, and Psychological Counseling and Combating GBV. Working through programs enabled the organization to expand its interventions geographically and demographically. PWWSD started targeting youth, mainly young women, in its activities.
Recalling its history and commitment to women's rights, PWWSD continued focusing on this group of women and was the first organization to execute a special program for women workers' rights. One of the most remarkable achievements in this field was establishing the “Nurseries and Kindergartens Employees Syndicate”, to be the first women's syndicate, taking into consideration that most of the employees in these sectors are women and their rights were widely violated.
A Rights-Based Approach at the Core of Our Work
Throughout its history, PWWSD has adopted a rights-based approach that places the dignity, agency, and rights of women and marginalized groups at the center of all interventions. Rather than viewing beneficiaries as passive recipients of assistance, PWWSD has consistently worked to empower women as rights-holders capable of claiming and exercising their rights.
As a rights advocacy organization, PWWSD has focused on addressing the root causes of inequality, discrimination, and exclusion. While the organization has provided a range of services at different stages of its development, these services have always been linked to broader objectives of empowerment, protection, participation, and social justice.
During periods when public institutions lacked the capacity to adequately respond to the growing needs of women and communities, PWWSD, like many Palestinian civil society organizations, stepped in to help fill critical gaps. However, service provision was never viewed as an end in itself; rather, it was considered a means of advancing rights, strengthening resilience, and enabling women to access opportunities and protection mechanisms.
Within this framework, PWWSD expanded its interventions to include psychosocial support and counseling services for women affected by political violence, economic hardship, social discrimination, and gender-based violence. These services were designed not only to address immediate needs but also to support women's ability to participate actively in their families, communities, and public life.
PWWSD viewed psychosocial and legal support not merely as a service aimed at helping women cope with difficult circumstances, but as an entry point toward empowerment. Through counseling and legal interventions, women gained greater self-confidence, awareness of their rights, and the ability to overcome barriers that limited their participation in public life. This empowerment encouraged women to engage with others facing similar challenges and to become involved in collective initiatives and community-based structures.
As women became more organized, their individual concerns evolved into shared community priorities. PWWSD supported women in forming and joining various formal and informal structures, including committees, cooperatives, community groups, and later the Shadow Councils. These structures provided women with safe spaces to exchange experiences, build solidarity, develop leadership skills, and collectively identify issues affecting their lives and communities.
Community organization naturally led to advocacy and collective action. Women were encouraged not only to articulate their needs but also to engage with decision-makers, local authorities, service providers, and national institutions. Through campaigns, dialogue processes, public awareness initiatives, and policy advocacy efforts, women increasingly became active actors in shaping public discourse and demanding accountability.
Over time, these advocacy efforts contributed to broader social and institutional change. Women's voices became more visible in public debates, gender concerns gained greater recognition within development and governance agendas, and important progress was achieved in influencing policies, legislation, and local governance practices. This pathway—from psychosocial support to empowerment, from empowerment to community organizing, from organizing to advocacy, and from advocacy to policy influence—became one of the defining features of PWWSD's rights-based approach and its vision for sustainable social transformation.
PWWSD was an active member within the advocacy campaigns to amend the electoral law, and jointly with counterpart CSOs, the law was amended to include positive affirmation of women, which served as the first step to involve women in the decision-making circles. Additionally, PWWSD was an active actor in the national campaign to protect women’s right to inheritance. This campaign resulted in the issuance of a procedural decision by the head of the Judiciary system to ban the renunciation of inheritance in exchange for compensation before dividing the inheritance. Such a step contributed to protecting the economic rights of women in one of the most fields that used to witness violation.
Today, PWWSD continues to build on more than four decades of feminist organizing and rights-based work, committed to advancing gender equality and ensuring women’s meaningful participation in all spheres of life in Palestine.
