Author: Mousa Jobran*
The current study aims to identify the role of women in the establishment of local institutions in the Bethlehem Governorate and its prospects. The study examined it’s the literature as a multi-dimensional phenomenon addressed by both theoretical and applied research. The significance of the recent study is as a result of a complement of previous and current ethical concerns with regard to the role of women in the establishment and development of local institutions. This study serves to encourage investigations of new horizons with regard to establishing and developing the local institutions at the Governorate of Bethlehem.
The researcher developed a 39-item questionnaire which was divided into four sub-scales as follows: the participation of women in administering local institutions, the role of women in establishing and developing local institutions, the obstacles and probable approaches to develop the role of women in the establishment and development process of local institutions. The sample of the study comprised 152 respondents. The respondents from the local institutions were selected by the random stratified method and comprised both male and female. The collected data was statistically processed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS).
The findings revealed that the role of women in the establishment and development process of local institutions in Bethlehem Governorate was high (M 3.79 SD 0.32). The participants argued that the participation of women in managing NGOs was high ( M 3.80 SD 0.38); women have a clear role in the establishment and development process of the local institutions (M 3.97 SD 0.51); certain obstacles limited the practice of this role (M 3.22 SD 0.59) while the findings emphasized that there are many approaches (M 4.15 SD 0.44) to development the role of women in the local institutions.
The results of the study revealed significant statistical differences in the role of women in the establishment of local institutions and its prospects as perceived by the participant’s perception due to gender, region of institute, years of experience, and ratio of women in the institute. However, no statistical significant differences were found in the rest of the study variables.
In the light of the current study and its discussion, it is recommended that, the necessity to support women in the NGOs financially and morally to strengthen their leadership role, address the social, political and economic obstacles, which limit the participation of women in the development process in the Palestinian society in general, and in particular, the local institutions. Moreover, the study also recommended the need to conduct longitudinal studies that enhance the participation of women in local institutions in the Palestinian society in general and Bethlehem Governorate in particular.
Keywords: Local institutions, women, Palestine, prospects.
*MA Sustainable Rural Development, Institute of Sustainable Development, Faculty of Arts, Al-Quds University, Main Campus, Jerusalem- Abu Dies, Palestine. Independent Researcher, Bethlehem, Palestine. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
