Through the partnership with Israel’s Sheba Beyond, Sheba Medical Center’s virtual hospital – ranked as one of the 10 best hospitals in the world – Women4Women is training local Palestinian women healthcare workers to provide ongoing treatment, referrals and health education.
Huda Abuarqoub and Ronit Zimmer have lived through many situations that have profoundly tested Project Rozana. These included the May 2021 conflict with Hamas and the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact in the West Bank.
Huda explained that ALLMEP works in conflict transformation, by focusing on development, and coexistence in the Middle East among Palestinians, Israelis, Arabs and Jews. It is recognised as the fastest-growing peacebuilding community in Palestine and Israel.
She calls Project Rozana “one of the stars of ALLMEP.”
Project Rozana Chair Ron Finkel AM said:
Investing in Palestinian civil society and infrastructure helps to build capacity and resilience. In particular, this program assists Palestinians to provide healthcare in remote communities that are currently vastly underserviced. Our goal is to provide Palestinian women with the medical care they need, wherever they are located, and to bridge geographic, political and cultural gaps in a shared vision of optimal health outcomes.
The project is operating in Area C, which constitutes over 60% of the West Bank and is home to 3.3 million Palestinians. The World Health Organization and other regional healthcare stakeholders have identified 145,000 women and children from rural communities in the area as, ‘at risk.’ This is due to limited or no access to primary healthcare caused by inadequate infrastructure, transportation complexities and financial and cultural barriers.
A holistic team in the Women4Women pilot program includes nurses, a midwife, physiotherapist, psychologist, nutritionist, pediatrician and dentist who are being trained to use devices to address women’s physical, mental and social wellbeing.
The Women4Women team includes nutritionist Raghod Amro, pictured here with Project Rozana Israel Executive Director, Ronit Zimmer. Amro said,
Today we did a lecture on nutrition and dental health for the children of the summer camp in Deir Al-Asal, and it was a very good beginning. We love what we do!
A remote obstetrics and gynaecology unit in the rural Hebron area will be fully operated by Palestinian healthcare teams. The goal is to provide women with the care they need wherever they are located. Telehealth services will help to bridge political and cultural gaps and female health workers will help to mitigate cultural concerns about male doctors treating women.
Dr Anna Doufesh, a gynaecologist in Hebron, visited the Women4Women pilot program in July. Dr Doufesh (pictured) tested the GE Point of Care Ultrasound that will be used in the program. This remote care device means that she will be able to capture vital information from her desk at the hospital in Hebron at the same time as the team at Sheba Hospital.
Project Rozana’s Women’s Health Initiative provides much-needed health services in the West Bank for women.
In July 2022, Project Rozana’s Women4Women initiative received international media coverage.