Who we are
The idea was a women’s association in Nablus devoted to women, who suffered most from the poverty, hunger and illness brought by the region’s political and economic upheaval. The city’s women set out to serve their people, and over the decades those services grew into institutions.
In Nablus, women’s liberation meant fighting illiteracy, educating women and caring for the wounded, the poor and orphans: its substance, not its outward form.
From the society’s historyCredit goes to Miss Mariam Hashem of Nablus, who took the initiative to gather a group of the city’s women to carry out this duty on behalf of all women.
Our vision
We look to the Arab Women Union Society in Nablus as a long-established, forward-looking national institution — able to show the role of Palestinian women and to draw on their abilities and energies, in order to deliver the best possible social and humanitarian services.
Our mission
The Arab Women Union Society in Nablus is a charitable civil institution working in social development and humanitarian assistance. Its services are distinguished by their range: health, education, childhood, shelter, care and rehabilitation. It works continuously to coordinate and unite efforts and to mobilise the support needed to sustain and strengthen the Palestinian family.
Our objectives
- Raising the status of women, improving their circumstances, and preparing them properly to play their part in building their society.
- Developing and activating the role of women to include contributing to construction and community development.
- Improving the social, cultural and health situation of Palestinian women.
- Raising awareness among women and providing education and vocational training for them.
- Caring for and protecting children, and providing education and health services for them.
- Assisting poor and needy families.
- Providing treatment and health services to poor and needy families.
Registration and legal details
- Official name
- جمعية الاتحاد النسائي العربي نابلس
- Registered with
- وزارة الشؤون الاجتماعية ووزارة الداخلية
- Founded
- 1921
- Formally registered
- 1945
- Registration number
- 59 1997
- Status realigned
- 23/7/2001
- Governing law
- قانون الجمعيات رقم 1 لعام 2000 (NA-712-CM)
- Postal address
- الضفة الغربية – محافظة نابلس – الجبل الشمالي – شارع الاتحاد
Our journey in three eras
-
1921
The founding
- Founded by a group of Palestinian women from Nablus and led by successive elected boards.
- A focus on literacy, women’s education and care for the wounded, the poor and orphans.
-
1948 – 1967
Between the Nakba and the Naksa: building institutions
- Treating the wounded at Al-Shahba hospital in 1948 and raising aid for displaced families.
- A hospital for refugee women and children, with the International Red Cross, in 1950, and a maternity hospital for refugee women.
- The cultural club and the orphan girls’ home in 1952; Al-Noor centre for blind girls in 1962.
-
1967 – today
From 1967 to today
- Ittihad Women’s Hospital officially opened in 1970, the society’s first health institution.
- The hospital played a major role caring for the injured of the 1987 intifada.
- The Ittihad kindergarten in 1998 and the Hajja Andaleeb Al-Amad college for nursing and midwifery in 2000.
Key achievements
- The first fully computerised hospital in the northern West Bank, built with Palestinian expertise.
- External project funding of over JOD 2 million in the last decade.
- A midwifery programme that filled a real gap in the Palestinian health sector.
- A permanent nursing college building funded by the Arab Fund, costing close to US$2 million.
- Administrative and financial systems built to current international standards, towards ISO certification.
- An endowment for orphaned and blind girls: a residential floor whose income is dedicated to them.
- The Mariam Hashem centre for culinary arts, a pioneering programme in the northern West Bank.
- Named in 2011 and 2012 on Forbes’ list of the most transparent charities in the Arab world.
Our values
Having founded its institutions, the society turned to strengthening them from within, guided by excellence, distinction and transparency, so that every service is worthy of the people it serves.
Members of the board
The board as published on the society’s website (2014–2017 term). It will be updated from the admin panel when the new board is confirmed.
| Name | Role | Member since |
|---|---|---|
| عهود رفعت صالح يعيش / قناديلو | President | 1972 |
| فاطمه عادل احمد الشكعه / فهد | Vice-president; Finance committee | 1986 |
| مهديكار شيب حافظ أبو زنط | Secretary; Orphans’ home | 2011 |
| حنين محمد جواد حمد دروزة | Treasurer; Mariam Hashem Centre | 1988 |
| حنين محفوظ عطا الله قطيفان | Deputy secretary; Hospital | 1988 |
| تمارا عبد الرحمن كمال | Deputy treasurer; Blind girls’ centre | 2013 |
| فريال حسني حسين خياط | Public relations | 1989 |
| سمر وليد طه الأغبر | Nursing college | 2014 |
| عفاف محمد منصور عودة | Kindergarten | 1990 |
| سعاد محمود سعيد شاهين | Member | 2003 |
| د. زهوه الواوي | Member | 2012 |
Committees
| Committee | Members |
|---|---|
| Finance & procurement | فاطمه الشكعه، ابتسام عبد الرحيم، عطيه النابلسي، حنين قطيفان، افنان السيد |
| Public & social relations | افنان السيد، فريال الخياط، حنين دروزه، عطيه النابلسي |
| Hospital | افنان السيد، فاطمه الشكعه، جاوده المصري، حنين دروزه، سعاد شاهين |
| Nursing & midwifery college | رزون شاهين، عطيه النابلسي، ابتسام عبد الرحيم، حنين دروزه، حنين قطيفان |
| Orphans’ home | افنان السيد، سعاد شاهين، فاطمه الشكعه، فريال الخياط، حنين قطيفان |
| Blind girls’ centre | رزون شاهين، فريال الخياط، عطيه النابلسي |
| Ittihad kindergarten | ابتسام عبد الرحيم، جاوده المصري، سعاد شاهين |
| Internal audit | المحامي هشام الشخشير، المراقب المالي جلال دويكات |