UN Women Palestine Facebook event 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 initiative 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 give a two-day training in Ramallah grounded in the Men’s Story Project’s methodology, with staff from 11 community-based organizations working in Gaza and the West Bank. In collaboration with UN Women, storytelling teams were then formed in Gaza and the West Bank; the team leaders/facilitators were based at the Aisha Association for Woman and Child Protection, Sharek Youth Forum, and QADER for Community Development.

To prepare for their public storytelling events, the selected storytellers at each project location participated in a series of facilitated group workshops over the course of two months. In the workshops, the presenters shared and honed their draft stories, learned together, and built community. Dr. Lehrer provided remote coaching for the facilitators as the workshops and storytelling events were developed.

Staff from 11 community-based organizations