Poverty and Gender: gender helpdesk assignment about the Occupied Palestinian Territories for Sida

This paper examines how Palestinian men and women are affected by poverty related to violent conflict. By acknowledging socio-cultural understandings of gender relations, it shows how men and women become vulnerable in different ways. To counter poverty, both women and men are dependent on viable social networks. It is however clear, that females, especially those in female-headed households, have more difficulties in developing and maintaining those social relations. Poverty strikes men and women differently, but Palestinian gender roles also give them different abilities to handle deprivation. For instance, females are in general more dependent on their relatives’ agreement when accepting wage labour. The paper also includes brief attempts to discuss links between poverty and conflict and some recommendations.