Two years since the opening of Wasla Center for Digital Advocacy
For two consecutive years, Wasla Center for Digital Advocacy has taken an important position for many young people, persons with disabilities, and NGOs working in the disability sector.
Wasla, which is provided by the necessary technical equipment, and the first of its kind in the Gaza Strip, works to improve skills and develop digital media production through a better investment of digital platforms and social networks, within a participatory approach to defending Palestinian human rights, for a just and inclusive life for all.
The center provides guidance and training services, production of digital content in its various forms, and advocacy and awareness-raising, through a team that is passionate about community participation and advocating human rights, and they believe in the importance of digital transformation.
Wasla Partners for a Better Life for Persons with Disabilities
Wasla is based on a group of local partners who make significant efforts to defend the rights of persons with disabilities. Wasla and its partners work to prioritize the intervention and focus issues, which resulted in the digital content agenda to collectively advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities.
On the other hand, Wasla excels in providing digital guidance and training services to develop the skills and capabilities of non-profit organizations working in advocating for the rights of persons with disabilities, by providing the opportunity to participate in a program to build the capacity of institutions in digital advocacy, in addition to launching the first practical guide on digital advocacy, an electronic and hard copy is presented to youth activists, advocates, civil society institutions, youth groups and self-support groups to be a reference in designing digital campaigns.
In the same context, Wasla Center offers a program specialized in developing the digital efficiency of institutions, which includes providing guidance and following-up services to eight partners located in all governorates of the Gaza Strip. The program includes a series of sessions that ensure improving the digital presence of the target audience through social networks, in addition to developing the capabilities of institutions in producing digital content.
In general, there is satisfaction at the level of technical development of the partner pages, as well as at the level of performance development of employees. Lima Eliwa from the Palestine Future Foundation for Childhood expressed her experience with this program after their social media page achieved a higher rate of 78%, saying: “The experience of the counseling sessions was different, through which I developed my abilities to use communication platforms, which in turn was reflected in the institution’s performance which became better than before.”
This network of local partners is a strong point to Wasla in responding to the daily and long-term issues of persons with disabilities and others, and the center looks forward to developing its current relationship and expanding the base of community partnership to achieve a more effective and impactful response in the coming period.
Youth are partners in the process of societal change
50 young men and women with and without disabilities joined Wasla during the current year, preceded by 60 others in the previous year. All of them participated in a training program in digital advocacy for the rights of youth and persons with disabilities, through which they acquired skills in leading digital campaigns and skills that enhance self-confidence and lead various roles in the society.
From thinking about the daily challenges facing persons with disabilities to policies that need to be modified or activated, youth designed advocacy campaigns that respond to the developments of the local context, and in this context, Wasla launched a major national campaign entitled “We Fight Corona”, since the beginning of March 2020, to respond to the urgent issues imposed by the outbreak of the epidemic in Palestine and to discuss them with decision-makers and to raise community awareness of the need to follow public safety measures and preserve the health of society, the “We Fight Corona” campaign received an audible response and received a remarkable interaction on the campaign’s various channels.
Wasla launched “We Fight Corona” messages on public streets, through local radios, through various digital content and via live broadcasting technology, in podcasts and mailings, and on Wasla and SDF pages, partner pages, and accounts of active youth through social networks and others.
Following the call for the holding of the Legislative Council elections, “My Right to Vote” campaign was launched, which advocated the need to guarantee the right of persons with disabilities to participate in the general elections as voters and candidates, and to call for their issues to be placed among the candidates’ priorities, expressing this through effective and interactive digital content and dialogue meetings with the Elections Committee Central and electoral lists.
Wasla builds a generation of active youth on the societal level to play their roles stemming from their sense of responsibility towards their own issues and the issues of others, and in the last, but not limited to, their accounts on social networks to document the crimes of the Israeli occupation and convey people’s messages during the recent aggression on the Gaza Strip. Contributing to addressing the effects of aggression through community initiatives with children, producing video content, and cleaning the destroyed streets, such as the “We’ll Rebuild It” campaign, launched by the Gaza Municipality in partnership with the Social Developmental Forum.
“Wasla” Continues
Thus, Wasla prepares to respond to the surrounding changes on an ongoing basis, and declares its solidarity with Palestinian human rights, relying on the network of partners from civil society institutions, active youth, self-support groups and youth groups, as a societal force that seeks a society that accommodates all.