UN Women Palestine Facebook page
In September, October and November 2018, several productions of men’s personal storytelling for healthy masculinities and gender equality took place in Gaza and the West Bank, as part of UN Women’s “Because I Am a Man” campaign. The venues included Bethlehem University, An-Najah National University, and Al Quds University. This work was part of a broader Programme called “Men and Women for Gender Equality” – a UN Women Regional Programme funded by Sweden.
To develop this storytelling work, Dr. Lehrer served as a consultant with UN Women Palestine to lead a training in Ramallah on the Men’s Story Project’s methodology, for staff from eleven civil society organizations working in Gaza and the West Bank. In collaboration with UN Women, storytelling teams were then formed in Gaza and the West Bank, with team leaders based at the Aisha Association for Woman and Child Protection, Sharek Youth Forum, and QADER for Community Development organizations, respectively. Dr. Lehrer provided remote coaching over the following weeks as the productions were created. The storytellers and facilitators met several times as a group before the presentations to discuss and hone the stories, learn together, and build community.