Just like in maths, whatever your field of expertise is, you can be sure about a common denominator: an equal participation of men and women in leading positions increases the public’s trust in what you do. The judiciary makes no exception, in Palestine, like in Europe.

To accomplish equal participation of women in the judiciary is key to achieving a more just rule of law. To get there, the same career opportunities for all male and female prosecutors are to become the norm. Palestinian prosecutor and law enforcement female officers, like other women elsewhere, have expectations for this to be fully implemented, sooner rather than later.

The Bethlehem Project – involving Palestinian prosecutors and police officers – is an ongoing Mission’s activity working, but not limited to, equality on the workplace.  In a nutshell, this project aims at enhancing the pre-trial cooperation and coordination in criminal investigations between prosecutors and police officers at strategic and technical level. Within the framework of this project, Mission’s experts on Prosecution and Security Sector Reform delivered a training day course focusing on interviews techniques, the so-called P.E.A.C.E mode, on 24 June, in Bethlehem.

During the one-day training, the five Palestinian prosecutors (3 females), and seven police officers (1 female) attending the activity, engaged with their European colleagues from EUPOL COPPS delivering the lectures, in group discussions.

Discussions to establish a network to empower and support female prosecutors in their professional development was also among the topics of the Bethlehem event. When time is up to launch the network the Gender Unit at the Palestinian Attorney General Office will be the lead in addressing needs of the female prosecutors, choosing representatives from each district to be part of it.

EUPOL COPPS is fully dedicated to the inclusion of human rights as well as a gender perspective and gender mainstreaming standards in all its activities, both within the Mission and while working with our Palestinian counterparts.