During the past months of November and December, a training program was held in the town of Zababdeh in which 15 young graduates from the Jenin governorate participated.

Throughout these weeks, the participants had the opportunity to increase their knowledge in the field of agricultural cooperatives in Palestine. Specifically, the sessions were divided into four blocks: business management, cooperative marketing, quality control, and accounting and finance systems.

The training, which was carried out by the Institute for Community Partnership (ICP) of the University of Bethlehem, aimed to offer a detailed vision of this sector of the Palestinian economy and thus present work in cooperatives as a real professional opportunity for recent graduates.

Of the 15 participants who attended the training sessions, 7 will be selected to carry out internships during the next 10 months in the 7 cooperatives identified under this project. In this way, the aim is to transfer the knowledge acquired by these young graduates to local cooperatives and thus strengthen their management and marketing skills.

This activity is included within the project financed by the Generalitat Valenciana and implemented together with our local partner, Rural Women’s Development Society (RWDS), which seeks to promote the labor rights of rural women in the Yenin governorate.

Part of the success of this project lies in the strengthening of the professional skills of the young graduates, which will allow them to access better quality jobs and, in the case of women’s agricultural cooperatives, in turn create a valuable synergy with these women. production units that contribute to its sustainability over time.

This was stated by the program participants::

Renad Abdul Hamid Hussein, an accounting graduate in 2018, points out that cooperatives represent a great opportunity for Palestinian women, who already face great political and social restrictions in accessing employment. Renad tells us how she herself has witnessed the positive impact that the Faqqoua cooperative -where her mother works- has had on the local community.

Maysan Ibrahim Khader, from the town of Anza, pointed out at the end of the program that cooperatives constitute an element of empowerment for Palestinian women, and he hopes that programs of this type will serve to give visibility and connect the efforts of the different cooperatives of the zone.