General Union of Palestinian Women

The General Union of Palestinian Women (GUPW) is an umbrella organization for Palestinian women's groups such as the Women's Center for Legal Aid and Counseling and the Palestinian Working Women's Society. Palestinian women across the Middle East, Europe, and North America participate in local chapters, and other Palestinian organizations have women representatives in the GUPW. GUPW encourages women to increase their participation in social, economic, and political life. It also maintains a number of humanitarian projects providing health and welfare services to needy Palestinian families. GUPW's headquarters are located in Ramallah, West Bank, and Gaza City, Gaza, in Israel/Palestine.

GUPW has five main goals: First, mobilize Palestinian women for political action on behalf of the Palestinian people, particularly to fight against the Israeli occupation. Second, raise Palestinian women's political awareness and participation within Palestinian politics and international political arenas. Third, promote gender equality within Palestinian legal and political processes. Fourth, increase Palestinian women's participation in the economy. Fifth, provide literacy, cultural, and health programs that benefit Palestinian women.

Women's groups have played important roles in Palestinian politics since the formation of the Palestinian Women's Union in 1921. Many of these organizations focused on national liberation as linked to gender equality, and many were affiliated with Palestinian political parties. GUPW formed as a popular organization or a mobilizing section of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1965. However, GUPW took issue with sexist tendencies [Page 388]within the PLO and later became an organizing mechanism for Palestinian women from most Palestinian political parties. From 1967 to 1993, many of the political activities of the chapters operated in secret while the organization continued its social and economic programs for women with aid from the international community including the United Nations. Following the Oslo Peace Accords, GUPW busily sought to organize chapters, elect women to serve in the Palestinian Authority, write gender equality into the Palestinian legal system, and begin new social programs. The political turmoil at the start of the 21st century led GUPW to postpone many of its activities. However, in 2005 and 2006, the union was successful in promoting and training women candidates in a variety of Palestinian elections.

Because of the turbulent status of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and GUPW's affiliation with Palestinian politics, this organization has an ever-changing and complicated system of organization. An executive committee leads it, though most of the activities are undertaken by local chapters.

GUPW organizes political, cultural, and economic programs for Palestinian women. It runs vocational training centers for women as well as centers that provide health care for children while providing their mothers with child care. GUPW chapters run seminars on health, political rights, and Palestinian culture. GUPW continues to take part in political activities such as boycotts and protests aimed at increasing gender equality and promoting Palestinian and, to a lesser extent, pan-Arab political interests.