Themes and Strategies

Grassroots Skills and Capacity Building
Kayan's flagship program works with small groups, allowing hundreds of women in dozens of locations to begin a process of personal empowerment, and become proactive in their personal and public lives. In addition, capacity building courses for community activists helps to mentor and strengthen the work of existing women's groups and initiatives, women working for improved status and civil rights. Focused on personal and community levels, this work helps build loosely networked, grassroots-based, women's movements for social change.

Knowledge-Based Training
Kayan has participated in and has developed training programs, which merge data from women in the field, together with civil and legal knowledge. Knowledge-based training, together with advocacy, helps gender-mainstream women's issues in Israel. Courses include Engendering the Budget, Legal Rights of Women, Civil Planning, and Gender-Sensitivity Training with Government Authorities.

Civil and Legal Demands
Kayan is a force for grassroots women, spearheading and creating new projects to meet unmet needs and rights, voiced by women participants in our programs and courses. At the same time, we use the tools of knowledge, and of civil and legal rights, to develop ongoing dialogues between Palestinian women and the local and national authorities, to help advocate, implement and extend basic citizen rights to women.

Networking and Coalitions
Kayan works extensively with a wide array of organizations, groups, initiatives, coalitions, agencies and institutions, and values cooperation and coalition building as an essential element of social change and gender-mainstreaming. (see Program Activities-Coalitions)

International Advocacy
Kayan participates in international women's conferences and social forums, and has initiated activities related to international women's rights, such as the conference discussing the regional implications of UN Resolution #1325. Kayan also shares its strategies and successes with global women's forums and groups. The new legal department will further extend the dialogue with human rights and women's groups internationally, to expand our international advocacy.