ESC: Support the local seeds bank of UAWC, Palestine

The Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) is the largest agricultural development institution in Palestine. UAWC was established in 1986 in response to the vulnerable socio-political circumstance faced by Palestinian farmers, as a result of the Israeli occupational policies. These include confiscation of lands and water resources, and therefore directly harms the interests of all Palestinians, and farmers in particular. Since its establishment, UAWC has steadily gained the confidence of a range of very influential international donors in our effort to develop projects and programs, which annually benefit more than 30.000 small-scale farmers. All located within the vulnerable and conflict-affected regions of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, our projects vary from agricultural land development, implementation of water supplies, capacity building, development of rural women's livelihoods, legal awareness, emergency response, and other agricultural development projects. The successes of UAWC’s projects have gained it three international awards in one year (2014/15), namely the “Food Sovereignty Prize”, the “Equator Prize”, and the “Arab Creativity Award in the Economic Creativity”. UAWC continually succeeds in widening its relationships and partnerships; both locally and internationally. It is the only Arab organization that is a member of La Via Campasina. Furthermore, UAWC has initiated the establishment of a number of coalitions and alliances in Palestine aimed at supporting Palestinian farmers and strengthening their steadfastness on their lands