On the eve of International Women’s Day, H.E. Dr. Ola Awad, President of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), highlighted the situation of the Palestinian women through a press release.

H.E. Dr. Awad underlined that women represent 49% of the Palestinian population, corresponding to 2.7 million women. H.E. Dr. Awad mentioned that 12% of the Palestinian households were headed by women in 2022 (12% in the West Bank and 11% in Gaza Strip). The median age at first marriage in Palestine was 21 years for females in 2021.

As to the participation in education, while enrolment of boys in secondary education was 78%, it was 97% for girls in the scholastic year 2021-2022.

Concerning the labour force participation, female labour participation has increased to 19% in 2022 from 17% in 2021. Also, according to the General Personnel Council data, the percentage of women’s participation in public sector reached to 48% in February 2023.

The highlights shared by H.E. Dr. Awad also included the Israeli violations against the Palestinian women. In 2022 and first quarter of 2023, 19 Palestinian women were martyred, 172 women were arrested in the West Bank, Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip borders, and there are still 29 Palestinian women in the Israeli prisons as at the end of 2022.

Based on 2021 data, the participation of Palestinian women in decision making positions is still limited compared to that of men. Data show that 23% of the Palestinian Central Council members, 19% of the Palestinian National Council members, and 12% of the Council of Ministers members are women. Additionally, for the Board of Directors of the Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, the percentage of men reached 99%, compared to only 1% of women. In the Judiciary, 19% of judges and 18% of prosecutors were women. Moreover, there is only one woman governor in Palestine out of 15 governors.

For more details, please visit: https://www.pcbs.gov.ps/site/512/default.aspx?tabID=512&lang=en&ItemID=4458&mid=3171&wversion=Staging