ALBIREH, February 19, 2018 (WAFA) – The International Men and Gender Equality Survey in the Middle East and North Africa (IMAGES MENA) study conducted in 2017 has revealed that a quarter of men in Egypt, Morocco, Lebanon, and Palestine acknowledge and support women’s equality in many aspects of public and private life.

The study released Tuesday by UN Women showed that a majority of men surveyed tend to support a wide array of inequitable attitudes.

The Palestine portion of the sample included 2399 men and women residing in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, distributed among 1200 men and 1199 women, from urban and rural areas.

It addressed many social and economic aspects in the Palestinian territories, such as marriage, education, labor market, daily care, occupational violence, physical violence, and others.

The IMAGES Palestine Report shows that the history of life, family influence, and life conditions are factors that influence men‘s support for gender equality in Palestine. In general, men with higher incomes, higher education, mothers with more education or whose parents perform traditional household tasks are more likely to have equitable gender considerations.

The results also show that young women show more open views of equality than the older generation, while young people do not need to give more fair opinions than older men. The study also discusses the enormous pressures on men‘s lives, the challenge of finding paid employment and fulfilling the role of caregiver in times of economic instability, particularly in countries affected by conflict.

Regarding the role of women, 80% of men saw that their most important role was to take care of the home, compared with 60% of the women, while the richer or educated men followed more generally fair behaviors, with no differences in gender behaviors among younger men or older men.

Two thirds of women and half of men supported married women‘s rights to work outside the home, while the majority of both sexes reported their rejection of the idea that boys ‘education was more important than girls‘ education when resources were scarce.

The study confirmed that there are other signs of fair views in Palestine. There are many men who contribute to work that is generally considered a women‘s business, in addition to sharing decision-making power with women. While less than 20% of men and women believe that men‘s involvement in childcare or other domestic chores is shameful.

On the other hand, there was almost a consensus between men and women that gender equality had not been achieved in the Palestinian territories. Three-quarters of men and nearly 87% of women agree with the phrase "We Palestinians need to do more effort to promote equality between women and men".

This is the first multi-country study in the Middle East and North Africa that aims to better understand men and women’s perspectives on gender roles.

The findings of the Palestinian portion of the study were released today in Palestine, at an event that brought together more than 150 representatives of government, civil society and the international community.

The release of the findings, organized by UN Women in collaboration with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the the Consulate General of Sweden in Jerusalem, was generously funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).

The event that took place in Palestine Red Crescent, aimed to highlight some of the key findings of the study, which is designed to help policy-makers, researchers and activists better understand men and women’s perceptions of gender roles in the Middle East and North Africa.

The ground-breaking study was conducted by UN Women and Promundo, a global civil society organization, with local research partners in Palestine, Egypt, Morocco and Lebanon. The IMAGES Palestine study, developed and implemented in collaboration with the Institute of Women’s Studies at Birzeit University, surveyed a total of 2399 men and women residing in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, from both urban and rural areas.

The behaviors and attitudes uncovered in the survey reflect the complexity of gender norms shaped by family influence and life conditions and the Israeli occupation. However, it is noteworthy that the majority of men and women surveyed agreed with the phrase "We Palestinians need to do more effort to promote equality between women and men”.

Haifa Al-Agha, Minister of Women‘s Affairs, praised the study as "the result of a series of international and domestic actions and policies that reflect our commitment to gender issues at various levels.”

She pointed out the deep gap between men and women in Palestinian society, noting that the study supported the diagnosis of the origins of this problem, and will enhance the priority granted to women’s empowerment in Palestinian society.

She said that despite all achievements to date, the participation of women in public life did not yet reach its full potential, due to the two challenges that Palestinian women face: negative stereotypes and habits, and the violence of the occupation.

The release of the results of the IMAGES Palestine study also offered an opportunity to launch UN Women’s regional advocacy and awareness campaig #Because_I_am_a_Man, as well as the global campaign HeForShe for the first time in Palestine.

The two campaigns aim to change the negative stereotypes related to gender roles in the home and workplace by promoting positive realities and viewpoints related to issues such as men and women’s shared household roles and responsibilities, fatherhood, violence against women and female employment.

To celebrate the launch of the Because I am a Man campaign, a young Palestinian Singer, Bashar Murad, performed his new song by the same title. A short-animated film was screened on the evolving roles of members of an ordinary Palestinian family, seen from the perspective of a 10-year-old boy.

Mohammad Naciri, Regional Director for Arab States said “Because I am a man seeks not to remove the important voices of women, but rather to create a wider space for engaging in a dialogue around gender norms; and ultimately elevate us to a more equal society, wherein women and men, boys and girls have the same opportunities and responsibilities inside and outside the home.”

A photo exhibition was staged by UN Women in collaboration with the Consulate General of Sweden in Jerusalem, organized two photo exhibitions presenting images of Palestinian and Swedish fathers promoting gender equality through their actions in the home.

The exhibition aimed to highlight the benefits for families when fathers are involved in every aspect of family life.

Anne-Sofie Nilson, the Consul General of Sweden in Jerusalem said, “Children, women and men all benefit when fathers claim parental leave. Paternity leave also increases women’s participation in the labour market, something that is key for any economy to reach its full potential.These are two aspects that we want to highlight by bringing the photo exhibition Swedish Dads to Palestine.”

M.H.