On May 17^th and 18^th 2022, The Palestinian Civil Police Service (PCP), in partnership with the European Union Coordinating Office for Palestinian Police Support, (EUPOL COPPS), the countries of Luxemburg and Finland as well as the United Nations Women (UN Women), launched the first Palestinian Police Women Conference in Ramallah, bringing together over 200 women Palestinian police officers.

This historic two-day event marks the first step towards the establishment of a women police officers network in Palestine and will provide a forum to share their experiences in policing, raise awareness, and allow an opportunity to network as well as exchange best practices with Middle Eastern and European counterparts. In turn, these are the first steps towards a sustainable PCP women’s network.

Fifty affiliates from other Palestinian security services also participated in the opening ceremony and the workshops of the first day of the conference.  A number of dignitaries attended the event, including the United States, European Union, Canada, the United Kingdom , Bangladesh,  Jordan and Turkey, in addition to international agencies working in Palestine.  

“This network will help to make the police force more coherent to respond to the expectations of people and obtain long-lasting sustainable impact. Once you are organized at the domestic level here in Palestine, you can link up and interact with the other police women’s networks in other parts of the world,” said Nataliya Apostolova, Head of EUPOL COPPS Mission.

Ms. Jeanne Crauser, Representative of Luxembourg to the Political and Security Committee of the EU said: “As the main donor, Luxembourg is proud to play a part in making this Conference happen. Luxembourg has joined the group of States that pursue a feminist foreign policy with the aim of promoting the equality between women and men and putting an emphasis on human rights and the representation and participation of women at all levels of society”.

Ms. Maryse Guimond, the special representatives of UWomen in Palestine, praised the strategic partnership with the Police in the development and implementation of the gender strategy in the police and the police commitment to enhance women involvement in law enforcement work. She reassured UNWomen commitment to continue supporting Palestinian policewomen empowerment including in networking at the regional and international levels. Ms. Maryse highlighted the positive impact of women work in the police on women access to justice in addition to the impact on the police efficiency and credibility.

The network will promote a broader engagement of women in the security sector and it will work towards the establishment of robust relationships between the PCP and Palestinian society.