Thank you on behalf of the Beduoin community I want to thank you for this opportunity. I want to talk
about our situation as minority inside a minority in south Israel. We are are as part of the Arab
Palestinian minority in Israel. Beduoin community has an agriculture that characterises them as a minority,
the majority of Arab Beduoin are living in seven recognised villages and the other live in 45 unrecognised
villages which means they hae no electricity, no running water, no schools and there is a lack of medical
service and this is to keep them out of the whole political and economic development in the country and
this is the lack of education also and this leads us to have 80% of the Beduoin women are unemployed in
the country because they don't have the opportunity to go to schools because there is no schools in the
45 unrecognised villages and there is no transportation and no roads to go to the other recognised
villages.
Naán organisation was founded to create a meangingful change in society by enhancing social and justice
in a democratic way by lots of projects. We have a legal advocacy support centre which deals with
Beduoin women and 50% of the women that come to the centre are from the unrecognised villages, they
have legal counselling and legal representation in the court, all about their culture and political rights. We
also have our main project is awareness raising to rights and its based on the declaration of human rigths,
the over objective of this course is to advance the rights and status of girls, women and men in th
eBeduoin society of the Negev. To promote the rights and status of the oppressed Beduoin minority in
Israel and specific objective to improve Beduoin girls well being by raising girls awareness of their civil
and religious rights. Being part of a traditional Muslim society as a human being as children and as
women, raising boys awareness to human, civil, religioius, and children, providing girls and boys with
tools with which they can demand their rights from the community itself and from the State.
In this opportunity I would like to address the UN to not overlook the Beduoin community because we
close our eyes, that doesn't mean that the problem disappears, we're living in a very hard situation and
this situation leads that most of the Beduoin community are in absolute lack of awareness of rights issues,
and thedeclaration of rights and this is the process that we work on so that we can give them the
knowledge and the tools to work for their rights but we can't do it by ourselves, we need someone to
support us to know our situation that is not suited with a State that calls itself a first world country, with
people living in hard situation and doesn't work, they have no work, no schools and this is the basis of
our organisation, to give them the opportunity to see that this is not their fate to be tobe in this situation.
They can demand and work to have their rights and I hope in the future that the UN does give the
chance to the Beduoin community to live in a better situation and a better life. Thank you.