Promoting Palestinian Women’s Full Participation in Economic Development and Community Leadership

The Public Diplomacy Office of the U.S. Palestinian Affairs Unit (PAU-PD) announces an open competition for a cooperative agreement through this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). Not-for-profit non-governmental organizations are invited to submit proposals to implement a project that will promote Palestinian women as full participants in economic development, with the expected result of elevating the status of women in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza and their economic activity, while also advancing the PAU-PD mission goals: to advance peace and the development of a prosperous, stable, and transparent Palestinian society, economy and system of governance through substantive engagement with American people, institutions, ideas and ideals in order to improve American-Palestinian relations and create greater opportunities for mutually beneficial partnership and cooperation. PAU-PD’s Women and Economic Empowerment Program supports the design and implementation of activities to develop and promote women’s entrepreneurship and their microenterprise activities. Building on PAU-PD’s annual Women’s Micro-Enterprise Bazaar, which has contributed to the growth of Palestinian women-run businesses over the past 8 years, we are now seeking projects that will encourage and promote innovative business ideas and entrepreneurship among Palestinian women, connect Palestinian women entrepreneurs to experts in the United States, and develop the potential for mutually beneficial exchange between American businesses and Palestinian women from Gaza, Jerusalem and the West Bank.