{"id":188264,"date":"1984-10-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-11T22:23:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?p=188264"},"modified":"2019-03-11T22:23:16","modified_gmt":"2019-03-11T22:23:16","slug":"auto-insert-188264","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/auto-insert-188264\/","title":{"rendered":"Situation of and assistance to Palestinian women and children – SecGen report"},"content":{"rendered":"
THE SITUATION OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN LIVING IN THE OCCUPIED<\/p><\/div>\n
ARAB TERRITORIES AND OTHER OCCUPIED TERRITORIES<\/p><\/div>\n
Report of the Secretary-General<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n CONTENTS<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p><\/div>\n Paragraphs<\/u> Page<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n Introduction ………………………….. 1-13 3 <\/p><\/div>\n <\/p><\/div>\n A. Mandate for the report ……………….. 1-9 3<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n B. Background information ……………… 10-13 4<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n Chapter<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p><\/div>\n I. POLITICAL AND SOCIAL MATTERS …………. 14-73 6<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p><\/div>\n A. Political matters ………………. . 14-31 6<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p><\/div>\n 1. Settlements ……………………. 19-25 7<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p><\/div>\n 2. Oppressive practices ……………. 26-31 10<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p><\/div>\n B. Social matters ……………………. 32-73 12<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p><\/div>\n 1. Employment and working conditions …. 32-40 12<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p><\/div>\n 2. Education ………………………. 41-55 14<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p><\/div>\n 3. Health …………………………. 56-73 18<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p><\/div>\n II. ASSISTANCE BY THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY . 74-86 25<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n Tables<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 1. West Bank and Gaza Strip: <\/p><\/div>\n population by sex and age, 1981 …………………. 5<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p><\/div>\n 2. West Bank and Gaza Strip: <\/p><\/div>\n migration, 1967-1981 …………………………… 5<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p><\/div>\n 3. West Bank and Gaza Strip: <\/p><\/div>\n number of settlements by year of establishment <\/p><\/div>\n and type of settlement ………………………….. 8<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 4. West Bank and Gaza Strip: new settlements established or in<\/p><\/div>\n the process of being established during the period from<\/p><\/div>\n October 1982 to November 1983, <\/p><\/div>\n by area and type of settlement …………………… 9<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p><\/div>\n 5. West Bank and Gaza Strip: number of houses demolished by the<\/p><\/div>\n occupying authorities as a punitive measure, <\/p><\/div>\n 1967-1982 …………………………………….. 11<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p><\/div>\n 6. West Bank and Gaza Strip: distribution of female labour<\/p><\/div>\n force, 1980 ……………………………………….. 12<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p><\/div>\n 7. West Bank and Gaza Strip: distribution of refugee pupils, 1983\/84 …………………………………… 15<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p><\/div>\n 8. Female college and university enrolment in the occupied<\/p><\/div>\n territories, 1981\/82 ……………………………… 16<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p><\/div>\n 9. Average incidence of underweight in infants and children<\/p><\/div>\n registered in child health clinics…………… . 21<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p><\/div>\n 10. West Bank and Gaza Strip: household facilities, 1981…… 25<\/p><\/div>\n INTRODUCTION<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n A. Mandate for the report<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 1. The situation of women and children living in the occupied Arab territories has been the subject of increasing international concern since the beginning of the United Nations Decade for Women. At the World Conference of the International Women's Year, held at Mexico City in 1975, special attention was drawn to the specific needs of Palestinian women and children and measures to assist them. 1<\/u>\/<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 2. Subsequently, the General Assembly, in paragraph 23 of the annex to its resolution 34\/24 of 15 November 1979, had requested that "a study should be prepared in 1981 by the Commission on the Status of Women on the situation of women and children living under the racist minority régimes in southern Africa, especially under the apartheid <\/u>régime, and of women and children living in the occupied Arab territories and other occupied territories".<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 3. The Assembly also adopted resolutions 34\/160 and 34\/161 of 17 December<\/p><\/div>\n 1979, which resulted in the inclusion in the agenda of the World Conference of<\/p><\/div>\n the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace, held at<\/p><\/div>\n Copenhagen in July 1980, of an item entitled "Effects of Israeli occupation on<\/p><\/div>\n Palestinian women inside and outside the occupied territories: (a) Review of<\/p><\/div>\n social and economic needs of Palestinian women; (b) Special measures for<\/p><\/div>\n Palestinian women inside and outside the occupied territories", and in the<\/p><\/div>\n submission under that item of reports on special measures of assistance to the<\/p><\/div>\n Palestinian women (A\/CONF.94\/4) and on the effects of the Israeli occupation<\/p><\/div>\n on Palestinian women inside and outside the occupied territories (A\/CONF\/94\/21<\/p><\/div>\n and Corr.1). Both had been prepared by the Economic Commission for Western<\/p><\/div>\n Asia (ECWA) and were considered at its regional preparatory meeting. The<\/p><\/div>\n Programme of Action for the Second Half of the United Nations Decade for<\/p><\/div>\n Women, 2<\/u>\/ adopted at the Copenhagen Conference, included proposals for<\/p><\/div>\n assistance to Palestinian women inside and outside the occupied territories. 3<\/u>\/<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 4. The Commission on the Status of Women, at its twenty-ninth session,<\/p><\/div>\n recommended for adoption by the Economic and Social Council a draft resolution<\/p><\/div>\n on the situation of women and children in the occupied Arab territories, which<\/p><\/div>\n was subsequently adopted by the Council as resolution 1982\/18 of 4 May 1982.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 5. The provisional agenda for the thirtieth session recommended by the<\/p><\/div>\n Commission and approved by the Council in its decision 1982\/123 of 7 May 1982<\/p><\/div>\n included an item on the participation of women in the struggle for the<\/p><\/div>\n strengthening of international peace and security and against colonialism,<\/p><\/div>\n racism, racial discrimination, foreign aggression and occupation and all forms<\/p><\/div>\n of foreign domination. Under that item, the Commission had before it a report<\/p><\/div>\n of the Secretary-General on the situation of women and children living under<\/p><\/div>\n racist minority régimes and in the occupied Arab territories and other<\/p><\/div>\n occupied territories (E\/CN.6\/1984\/10).<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 6. The Commission took note of the report and recommended to the Economic<\/p><\/div>\n and Social Council the adoption of a resolution on the situation of<\/p><\/div>\n Palestinian women within and outside the occupied Arab territories, which was<\/p><\/div>\n adopted by the Council as resolution 1984\/18 of 24 May 1984.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 7. The General Assembly, in its resolution 38\/108 of 16 December 1983,<\/p><\/div>\n considered that the World Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements<\/p><\/div>\n of the United Nations Decade for Women, within the framework of item 7 of the<\/p><\/div>\n provisional agenda proposed by the Commission at its first session as the<\/p><\/div>\n preparatory body for the Conference (A\/CONF.116\/PC\/9 and Corr.1, chap. I,<\/p><\/div>\n sect. A, recommendation I), should pay particular attention to the problems of<\/p><\/div>\n women in Territories under racist colonial rule and in Territories under<\/p><\/div>\n foreign occupation on the basis of appropriate documentation from the<\/p><\/div>\n international conferences held at Mexico City and Copenhagen, with the theme<\/p><\/div>\n "Equality, Development and Peace".<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 8. The Commission, at its second session as the preparatory body for the<\/p><\/div>\n Conference, adopted a draft decision recommending that the report of the<\/p><\/div>\n Secretary-General on women and children living in the Arab occupied<\/p><\/div>\n territories and other occupied territories (E\/CN.6\/1984\/10) should be updated<\/p><\/div>\n and submitted as basic documentation to the Conference (A\/CONF.116\/PC\/19 and<\/p><\/div>\n Corr.1, chap. I, sect. A, draft decision II). This recommendation was<\/p><\/div>\n approved by the Council in its decision 1984\/125 of 24 May 1984.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 9. The present report has been prepared in response to that recommendation.<\/p><\/div>\n As no comprehensive study related to the status of Palestinian women has been<\/p><\/div>\n prepared within the United Nations system during the last year, it draws<\/p><\/div>\n exclusively on recent reports and other material dealing with various aspects<\/p><\/div>\n of living conditions of Palestinian people in the Arab occupied territories,<\/p><\/div>\n prepared by United Nations bodies.*<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n B. Background information<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 10. Since the Palestinian population has been dispersed all over the world,<\/p><\/div>\n it is difficult to know exactly how many Palestinians there are altogether:<\/p><\/div>\n estimates range from 3.6 million to 4.2 million for 1980 (E\/ECWA\/166\/Add.1,<\/p><\/div>\n pp. 58-59). In 1981, the total population of the West Bank, with a land area<\/p><\/div>\n of 5,500 square kilometres, was 707,300 and that of the Gaza Strip, with an<\/p><\/div>\n area of 367 square kilometres, was 451,600. Some 50 per cent of the people<\/p><\/div>\n living on the West Bank are refugees registered with the United Nations Relief<\/p><\/div>\n and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and 85 per<\/p><\/div>\n cent of those living in the Gaza Strip are refugees.**<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 11. Detailed information on the structure of the population in the occupied<\/p><\/div>\n territories by sex and age is given in table 1.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/u>\t<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n *Although none of these reports refer specifically to the question of<\/p><\/div>\n Palestinian women, they describe the living conditions of the Palestinian<\/p><\/div>\n population as a whole.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n **Official figures compiled by UNRWA for 1983 are 342,164 registered<\/p><\/div>\n refugees in the West Bank and 378,771 in the Gaza Strip. The 1981 figures for<\/p><\/div>\n the population as a whole are from the Statistical Abstract of Israel, 1982<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n (Jerusalem, Central Bureau of Statistics, 1982).<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n Table 1. West Bank and Gaza Strip: population by sex and age, 1981 <\/span>a<\/sup><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n <\/u><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n Age Females Males<\/p><\/div>\n (years) (percentage) (percentage) Percentage of total<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n <\/u><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 0-14 43.2 48.0 45.6<\/p><\/div>\n 15-29 28.4 30.2 29.3<\/p><\/div>\n 30-44 14.3 9.6 11.9<\/p><\/div>\n 45-64 11.3 9.2 10.3<\/p><\/div>\n 65 and over 2.8 3.0 2.9<\/p><\/div>\n <\/u><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n Source<\/u>: See "The situation of women and children living under racist<\/p><\/div>\n minority regimes and in the occupied Arab territories and other occupied<\/p><\/div>\n territories: report of the Secretary-General" (E\/CN.6\/1984\/10).<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n <\/span>a<\/sup><\/span> Based on a population of 707,300 for the West Bank and of 451,600 for<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n the Gaza Strip, making a total of 1,158,900.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 12. The high male emigration rate resulted in a decline in the male<\/p><\/div>\n population in the age brackets 30-44 years and 45-64 years and created a ratio<\/p><\/div>\n of 80 males to 100 females. <\/span>4<\/sup><\/span> Since 1980, emigration has increased particularly for males aged 14-25 years. This increase further affects the demographic structure of the population, contributes to the growing number of dependences per wage earner and lowers the rates of labour-force participation. <\/span>5<\/sup><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 13. Detailed information on emigration from the West Bank and Gaza is given<\/p><\/div>\n in table 2.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n Table 2. West Bank and Gaza Strip: migration, 1967-1981<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n <\/u><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n West Bank <\/u> Gaza Strip <\/u><\/p><\/div>\n Number Rate per Number Rate per<\/p><\/div>\n Year of migrants 1,000 of migrants 1,000<\/p><\/div>\n <\/u><\/p><\/div>\n 1967 -13,000 21.8 -12,300 32.0<\/p><\/div>\n 1968 -15,800 27.0 -32,300 87.5<\/p><\/div>\n 1969 + 1,300 2.2 – 2,900 8.1<\/p><\/div>\n 1970 – 5,000 8.3 – 3,300 9.0<\/p><\/div>\n 1971 – 2,500 4.1 – 2,400 6.5<\/p><\/div>\n 1972 – 7,200 11.5 – 4,000 10.4<\/p><\/div>\n 1973 + 300 .5 + 1,700 4.3<\/p><\/div>\n 1974 – 2,800 4.2 – 1,900 4.7<\/p><\/div>\n 1975 -15,100 22.5 – 3,500 8.3<\/p><\/div>\n 1976 -14,400 21.2 – 4,200 9.7<\/p><\/div>\n 1977 -10,400 14.7 – 2,900 6.5<\/p><\/div>\n 1978 – 9,400 13.4 – 4,700 10.3<\/p><\/div>\n 1979 -12,600 17.7 – 4,800 10.3<\/p><\/div>\n 1980 -17,300 24.0 – 5,100 11.3<\/p><\/div>\n 1981 -15,700 21.6 – 5,300 11.5<\/p><\/div>\n <\/u><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n Source<\/u>: See "Living conditions of the Palestinian people in the occupied<\/p><\/div>\n Palestinian territories: report of the Secretary-General" (A\/39\/233-E\/1984\/79).<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n I. POLITICAL AND SOCIAL MATTERS<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n A. Political matters<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 14. The policy of the occupying Power uniformly affects men, women, youth and<\/p><\/div>\n children as members of society. Despite countless resolutions of the Security<\/p><\/div>\n Council, the General Assembly and other United Nations organs, emphasizing the<\/p><\/div>\n right of the Palestinian people to return to their homeland and the right of<\/p><\/div>\n self-determination, calling for a cessation of the construction of settlements<\/p><\/div>\n in the occupied territories (see, for example, General Assembly resolution<\/p><\/div>\n 38\/79 C of 15 December 1983), the Government of Israel has been promulgating<\/p><\/div>\n since 7 June 1967 a series of decrees, by which it has established a military<\/p><\/div>\n administration for the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.* These Laws,<\/p><\/div>\n particularly Decrees 1 and 2, constitute the basis for Israeli policy in the<\/p><\/div>\n occupied territories. <\/span>6<\/sup><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n <\/u>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n <\/span>*<\/sup><\/span>Although Military Order No. 947 of 8 November 1981 proclaimed the<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n establishment of a civil administration under a Head of the Civil<\/p><\/div>\n Administration appointed by the Area Commander, who is in charge of laws and<\/p><\/div>\n military orders, the basis of military order in the occupied territories has<\/p><\/div>\n