NEXEM KERACA

Gaza- Palestinians suffer from poverty and unemployment due to ongoing conflicts. While people have faced challenges in meeting even their vital needs, the economic crisis is getting worse, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak. Meanwhile, Palestinian women become stronger by working together to solve many social problems.

“We want to produce”

Haneen Ahmed Alsammak, CEO of the Zeina Cooperative Association for Handicraft (ZAC), gave information about the meaning of cooperative. “A cooperative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned enterprise. We have been recently trying to develop the emergence of socio-economic collaborative work. For this reason, we want to work on productive projects that benefit society. The socio-economic cooperative requires a permanent effort and contributes to reducing unemployment, improving the economic situation, education and health services, and reducing economic violence among Palestinian families,” she told NuJINHA.

“The cooperative culture should spread”

Pointing out that women’s participation in the labor force has increased more than before due to the deteriorating economic situation and the compulsory environment that forces women to start small projects in order to support their families, Haneen Ahmed Alsammak emphasized that women have faced many problems, particularly the problems caused by their families. “Cooperatives can help women to enter foreign markets, facilitate the export of their products, and solves many economic problems that women face in the labor market. For this reason, the cooperative culture should spread,” she added.

“Our aim is to empower women”

Speaking about the activities of the Zeina Cooperative Association for Handicraft, Haneen Ahmed Alsammak said, “Our association was founded in 2017 to empower women in politics, economy, and society. We have two workshops; sewing and carpentry workshops. 14 women are currently working in the sewing workshop while nine women are working in the carpentry workshop. We produce educational toys for children. We have social media pages and promote our products on them. Our aim is to empower women economically, politically, socially, and psychologically. We also have a network of volunteers. Our association has developed many projects for women and children and strategic plans for the municipality and other institutions. Our association also supports women’s participation in education and politics.”