Women’s Affairs Technical Committee (WATC)
Profile
| Country/Territory | Palestinian Authority |
|---|---|
| Website | http://www.watcpal.org/watcpal/en/ |
| Founded | 1992 |
| In their own words | “We endeavor to build women’s framework and mobilize their energies to advocate for the rights of Palestinian women and monitor commitment with such rights in a manner consistent with national references and international covenants.” |
Funding
- Total income for 2013 was $908,515; expenses were $880,133 (latest available; accessed June 1, 2017).
- WATC has not released financial information since 2013. According to information released by donors, WATC has received grants from the European Union and Diakonia (See below for funding table).
- WATC received $674,000 in core funding for 2014-17 from the Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Secretariat (joint funding from Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, and the Netherlands).
- 2013 donors include: Care International, Open Society Foundation, France (French Consulate), NGO Development Center, Norwegian Church Aid, UN Women- Spring Forward, and United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
- Between 2009–2010, WATC received $103,500 from the National Endowment for Democracy (US).
Activities
- WATC rhetoric includes accusations of “apartheid” and “ethnic cleansing,” as well as supporting a Palestinian “right of return.”
- Releases videos regularly on the WATC Youtube Channel glorifying resistance and condemning Israel.
- In May 2017, WATC inaugurated a youth center for girls in the town of Burqa, near Nablus. As reported by Palestinian Media Watch, the center is named after Dalal Mughrabi, a terrorist who in 1978 murdered 37 civilians, including 12 children. Funding for this building was provided by Norway, UN Women (United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women), and Palestinian Authority Ministry of Local Government. Upon learning that the center had been named after a terrorist, the Norwegian government and the United Nations issued strong condemnations. Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Børge Brende stated that “We have asked for the logo of the Norwegian representation office to be removed from the building immediately, and for the funding that has been allocated to the centre to be repaid.”
- In September 2014, WATC, alongside MIFTAH, Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development (PWWSD), Oxfam Novib, and Women for Women in Sweden, participated in meetings held at the 27th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council to discuss “war crimes in Gaza and ongoing human rights violations in Occupied Palestine.”
- In November 2012, WATC called for participation in a protest to “raise our voice against the Israeli aggression and demand the trial of war criminals.”
BDS
- On March 8, 2016, WATC was a signatory to the “Palestinian Women’s Call for Worldwide Women’s Endorsement of BDS,” which called on women and feminists to join BDS campaigns because the “the Israeli regime of occupation, settler-colonialism and apartheid has for decades denied the Palestinian people our inalienable right to self-determination.”
- On July 19, 2014, WATC published an ad calling for a boycott stating, “I boycott the Israeli malls and the products of the settlements. Do you? For Al-Aqsa. For the Shahidim [Martyrs]. For the prisoners. For Palestine.”
- Signatory to the 2005 “Palestinian Civil Society Call for BDS,” which calls for an end to Israel’s “occupation and colonization of all Arab lands.”
Partners
Lists partners as: Women’s Learning Partnership (WLP),Bank of Palestine, Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), Diakonia, United Nations, CONEMUND, and the Palestinian Anti-Corruption Commission.
Partial List of Grants
| Donor | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diakonia | SEK 355,950 | SEK 382,950 | SEK 382,950 | SEK 382,950 | |
| Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Secretariat | $530,000 | ||||
| European Union- Partnership for Peace | €468,545 | ||||
| European Union- European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument | €499,735 | ||||
| Care International | $191,104 | ||||
| Foundation Open Society Institute (FOSI)- Equality and Justice | $74,950 | ||||
| Foundation Open Society Institute (FOSI)- Core Funding | $113,043 | ||||
| NGO Development Center (NDC) | $115,672 | ||||
| Norwegian Church Aid | $17,003 | ||||
| UN Women- Spring Forward | $51,216 | ||||
| UNDP | $16,500 | ||||
| Women Learning Partnership (WLP) | $39,783 | ||||
| Biladi Association | $80,552 | ||||
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