Kvinna till Kvinna and FEM PAWER Consortium Members, Organize Training to Strengthen Feminist Networks and Build Shared Governance for Cross-Border Feminist Change

Ramallah- November 2, 2025: The Swedish Organization, Kvinna Till Kvinna-KTK, in partnership with Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development (PWWSD) from Palestine, Arab Women Organization (AWO) from Jordan, and Collective for Research and Training on Development-Action (CRTDA) from Lebanon, arranged a regional training workshop under the title: “Building the Principles of Our Feminists Network). The workshop was organized in Aqaba, Jordan, during the period 26/30/9/2025 with the participation of 30 young women and experts from the three countries (Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine). 

The training is arranged within the pathway to establish young women networks, which started during the previous years, in order to foster regional solidarity and develop joint governance structures as well as enhance transformational governance change across the borders alongside developing effective narratives to realize social change. 

The training was facilitated by the international trainer, Ms. Eliana Malouk, who focused on feminist governance and developing narratives, and the international trainer Sawsan Al Sheikh who focused on measuring social change tools and the importance of utilizing data to achieve sustainability in addition to the role of narration and social entrepreneurship as tools to face the economic challenges and gender-based violence. The workshop concluded by drafting a joint chart and employment principles that reflect the vision of the regional network to foster women’s participation I the decision-making process. 

Participants highly appreciated the training, where, in this regard, activist Nour Manasra from the Palestinian group reported that the training was an encouraging and inspiring experience for participants. The speaker affirmed that the role of youth leaders should not be limited to the existing path, but should be extended to draw the direction where to move and open new scopes to enable women to speak up about their issues and design the future. 

Rahaf Jetawi, another participant, expressed pride in representing Palestine in such a distinguished workshop. She added that the training serves as a landmark in her work, especially since she was introduced to new skills such as drawing the map of power relations. Moreover, according to Jetawi, I appreciated learning how to develop a chart and principles for employment as well as utilizing data as a tool for achieving sustainability. Additionally, she expressed willingness to transfer the knowledge and skills gained from the workshop to other peers around her. 

Iman Assi, another participant, mentioned that the training enabled her to deeper understanding of equality and justice, and she is motivated to continue working in this field, utilizing the gained skills to enhance equality and justice. Tala Hamdan, another participant, said that the training served as a safe space for learning and exchanging experiences where, as she asserted, she was able to discover the concept of feminist solidarity and how the various narratives could serve as energy to achieve change. 

Lara Ramadan, the Palestinian Young Women Network, at PWWSD, reported that the training served as a distinguished experience for Palestinian young women as it contributed to fostering the strategic and critical thinking and enhanced young women’s belief in themselves and ability to lead the change. 

The FEM PAWER Program is executed through a regional consortium from MENA Region, led by Kvinna till Kvinna-KTK, where it includes: Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development- PWWSD from Palestine, Arab Women Organization from Jordan, and Collective for Training and Research on Development- Action, from Lebanon. The Program is funded by the Dutch Government. 

FEMPAWER, a five years program, is designed to contribute to develop the capacity of local women organizations in the field of advocacy and accounting the private sector regarding the gender equality issues, especially in the informal sector and protecting young women from economic gender-based violence. Additionally, the Program seeks to empower young women from Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, and Tunisia, to become leaders and capable of resisting discrimination and economic gender-based violence. Additionally, young women are empowered to contribute to shaking the social norms that discriminate against women and contribute to enhancing the economic rights of women and fostering gender equality.