MoSD & Ramallah Municipality Discuss Advancing Social Inclusion and Improving Services
Ramallah – Minister of Social Development and Acting Minister of State for Relief Affairs Dr. Samah Hamad met with Ramallah Mayor Yacoub Saadeh and members of the Municipal Council to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation and coordination between the Ministry and the Municipality. The meeting focused on advancing social inclusion and improving services and interventions provided to citizens, particularly older persons, persons with disabilities, and the most vulnerable groups.
The discussions took place during Dr. Hamad’s visit to Ramallah Municipality, attended by Deputy Mayor Majed Abdel Fattah and several members of the Municipal Council. Also present were Assistant Undersecretary for Family Care and Protection Akram Al-Hafi, Assistant Undersecretary for Administrative Development and Planning Ashraf Al-Barghouthi, the Minister’s Advisor Doaa Wadi, and Director of the Ministry’s Ramallah and Al-Bireh Directorate Dr. Khalil Tanous.
Dr. Hamad affirmed that the Ministry of Social Development seeks to promote social inclusion across its various services and programmes, particularly those targeting older persons and persons with disabilities. She highlighted the importance of cooperation with Ramallah Municipality and benefiting from its experience as one of the leading municipalities in this field. In this context, both sides explored opportunities for cooperation and knowledge exchange, particularly in relation to the Municipality’s Expertise Centre and its programmes and services, to improve social interventions and strengthen the participation and inclusion of different groups in society.
Both sides also discussed the relationship and complementarity between the Ministry and the Municipality in the areas of social care and protection, including Dar Al-Amal Juvenile Centre, which is located within the boundaries of Ramallah Municipality. They explored ways to enhance cooperation to better serve the children and juveniles benefiting from care and protection services. The discussions also addressed the needs of older persons and the possibility of jointly developing programmes and services tailored to them.
Dr. Hamad reviewed the work of the Ministry of Social Development and the services it provides in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. She also highlighted the role of the Social Registry as a key tool for organising data, identifying needs, and directing social interventions, alongside the Ministry’s broader social service system targeting various groups.
Dr. Hamad further addressed the difficult humanitarian and social conditions facing Palestinians, particularly in the Gaza Strip amid restrictions on the entry of aid and their far-reaching consequences. She stressed that the coming period will bring increasing social challenges and needs, including a significant rise in the number of persons with disabilities. This requires stronger preparedness and coordination among all relevant stakeholders, including local authorities, to respond effectively to these needs and ensure their inclusion in services.
The meeting also reviewed the situation of several social centres and services in the Ramallah and Al-Bireh area and discussed ways to develop them. This included services related to juveniles, as well as the Al-Bireh Municipality Child Centre and the need to address the condition of its structurally unsafe building to ensure a safe and suitable environment for the continued provision of services.
For his part, Ramallah Mayor Yacoub Saadeh emphasised the importance of strengthening coordination and cooperation between the Municipality and the Ministry of Social Development. He reviewed several projects and issues currently being addressed by the Municipality, as well as the main challenges facing the city, including traffic congestion. He also spoke about the “Wein A Ramallah” Festival and Al-Haraj Market and their importance in revitalising the city and promoting its community and economic life. He further stressed the importance of coordination and complementarity with Al-Bireh Municipality on shared issues.
Dr. Hamad commended the role of Ramallah Municipality and underscored the importance of maintaining coordination and joint action between the Ministry and the Municipality. She stressed the need to build on existing experiences and services to develop more inclusive interventions that respond to the needs of citizens and different groups, while strengthening the social services system at the local level.
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MoSD: Protecting & Empowering Women Is Essential to Protecting Families and Strengthening Community Resilience
2.74 Million Women in Palestine; Ministry Prioritizes the Most Vulnerable Women and Female-Headed Households in Protection and Empowerment ProgrammesRamallah – On the occasion of Palestinian Women’s National Day, the Ministry of Social Development affirmed that protecting and empowering women constitute a fundamental pillar of the social protection system. The Ministry stressed that support for women should not be limited to responding to urgent needs, but should extend to strengthening their ability to make decisions, access services, and achieve greater independence and stability for themselves and their families. According to the latest data from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), women account for approximately 49% of Palestine’s population, with 2.74 million women at the end of 2025, including approximately 1.69 million in the West Bank and 1.06 million in the Gaza Strip. These figures reflect women’s presence across all segments of society and their central role within families and in social and economic life. The Ministry stressed that the current realities facing Palestinian women are directly affected by worsening poverty, displacement, loss of income and housing, and increasing care and household responsibilities, particularly among women who have assumed full or partial responsibility for supporting their families. In the Gaza Strip, the war, displacement, and loss of family breadwinners have significantly changed women’s roles within households. According to PCBS data, the proportion of female-headed households increased from approximately 12% before the war to nearly 18% during September and October 2025, while 22,057 women lost their husbands, significantly increasing the care, financial, and protection responsibilities borne by thousands of women. The Ministry emphasized that these realities require a broader understanding of women’s needs as multiple and interconnected, encompassing protection from violence, psychosocial support, cash and food assistance, access to health and social services, and economic empowerment opportunities that help women regain greater independence and stability. It added that women who support their families require interventions that go beyond temporary assistance by linking protection with empowerment programmes that take into account household circumstances and needs and help women establish sustainable sources of income whenever conditions allow, while maintaining social safety nets during crises and emergencies. In the West Bank, including Jerusalem, women also face increasing pressures associated with poverty, declining incomes, movement restrictions, risks of losing their homes, difficulties accessing certain services, and care responsibilities within the family. These conditions require continued outreach to the most vulnerable women and strengthened protection and follow-up services. The Ministry affirmed that women with disabilities face additional challenges in accessing services, information, protection, and empowerment opportunities, requiring the provision of reasonable accommodations and the removal of barriers that may prevent them from exercising their rights and accessing services. The Ministry also stressed the priority of protecting women and girls from all forms of violence and strengthening case management, psychosocial support, referral, and specialized services, while ensuring privacy, safety, and continued follow-up according to the needs of each case. The Ministry noted that women’s caregiving responsibilities within the family are a significant aspect of their social reality, as many women care for children, older persons, persons with disabilities, and people with health conditions, alongside managing households and securing their daily needs. It emphasized that developing childcare, community-based care, and home-care services not only benefits those who require care but also provides direct support to women and caregivers and helps reduce some of the burdens borne by families. The Ministry stressed the importance of giving particular priority to women facing the greatest vulnerability, including female heads of households, displaced women, women with disabilities, women living in poverty, women in rural and marginalized areas, and women affected by violence or the loss of housing or income. It affirmed that, from a social protection perspective, economic empowerment does not simply mean providing a project or a temporary opportunity. Rather, it means helping women and their families gradually reduce dependence on assistance, strengthen their ability to withstand shocks, and achieve greater economic security. The Ministry of Social Development added that Palestinian Women’s National Day is an occasion to reaffirm that women’s needs must be integrated into the design of social protection programmes and humanitarian responses, and that interventions should be based on women’s actual circumstances and the realities of the families in which they live, rather than adopting a uniform approach that does not account for differences among groups and geographic areas. The Ministry reaffirmed its continued cooperation with national and international institutions and partners to develop protection, care, empowerment, and psychosocial support programmes, strengthen outreach to women most in need, and link different social services within an integrated pathway that responds to the needs of women and their families. The Ministry concluded by affirming that protecting and empowering Palestinian women means protecting families and strengthening their ability to withstand crises, and that building a fair and inclusive social protection system cannot be achieved without ensuring that women can access their rights, services, and opportunities with dignity and equity.
MoSD: Food Availability Is Not Enough If Families Cannot Access It or Afford Their Needs
1.4 Million People in Gaza Face Crisis or Worse Levels of Acute Food Insecurity, Including 212,000 in EmergencyRamallah – On the occasion of World Food Day, observed on 16 October, the Ministry of Social Development affirmed that the right to food is not fulfilled merely by the availability of commodities in markets or the entry of humanitarian assistance into the Gaza Strip. Rather, it requires families to have regular access to sufficient, diverse, safe, and nutritious food in a manner that protects health and dignity and prevents further deterioration in nutritional conditions. World Food Day 2026 is being observed under the theme “Innovate Today. Nourish Tomorrow.” The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) emphasizes that access to sufficient, diverse, and safe food requires innovative and inclusive solutions that protect food systems and ensure their sustainability for all. In the Gaza Strip, the latest projections from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) indicate that more than 1.4 million people, approximately 67% of the population, are projected to face Crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity between July and December 2026, including approximately 212,000 people in Emergency. The Ministry stressed that these figures demonstrate that the food crisis is no longer linked solely to food availability, but also to weakened purchasing power, the collapse of income sources, rising prices, irregular assistance, and families’ declining ability to compensate for shortages through markets. The IPC analysis also confirms that declining purchasing power, high commodity prices, and the inconsistent entry of humanitarian assistance and commercial goods continue to restrict people’s access to essential needs, while the recovery of local production and livelihoods remains limited. The Ministry explained that a family without income cannot fully benefit from food being available in the market, stressing that food security should be measured by the extent to which households can regularly afford their needs, rather than solely by the quantities of goods entering the Gaza Strip. The Ministry added that food quality and dietary diversity are also fundamental aspects of the crisis. Meeting minimum caloric requirements alone is insufficient if diets lack protein, vegetables, fruits, and essential nutrients, particularly for children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, older persons, and people with health conditions. The Ministry emphasized the importance of diversifying response mechanisms to include food assistance, bread and meals, cash assistance, specialized nutrition interventions, and support for local markets, livelihoods, and food production whenever conditions allow. It also stressed the importance of cash assistance in situations where goods are available in markets, as it enables families to determine their own priorities and purchase the food they actually need, rather than relying entirely on a single food item or a predetermined assistance package. The Ministry affirmed that food interventions must also take into account the needs of the most vulnerable groups, particularly children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, older persons, persons with disabilities, and people with health conditions who may require specialized food or food parcels adapted to their health needs. The Ministry noted that sustainably addressing the crisis also requires restoring sources of income, employment opportunities, and local production, as long-term dependence on humanitarian assistance cannot substitute for an economy capable of enabling families to meet their own needs. The Ministry of Social Development reaffirmed its continued efforts to monitor families’ needs and coordinate with international organizations and partners to direct resources toward the most vulnerable groups and link food interventions with the social protection system and household needs. The Ministry concluded by emphasizing that the right to food is not fulfilled when food merely reaches the border, warehouse, or market, but when families are able to put sufficient and diverse food on their tables in a manner that preserves their dignity. It stressed the need to continue assistance while simultaneously strengthening purchasing power and restoring livelihoods.
