Juzoor is one of a handful of organizations working to strengthen and improve midwifery education and standards of care in Palestine and to promote policies which recognize and utilize midwives as important providers in various health care settings. Juzoor's work with midwives has included: initiation of a platform through which midwives can discuss technical matters and advocate for midwifery issues; publishing a booklet appropriately titled "Midwifery in Palestine," discussing midwifery education, legal status and policy recommendations on how to promote and to strengthen the profession; and lobbying efforts with stakeholders to improve utilization of this important health care resource.

Juzoor has worked toward building alliances with several national bodies that influence the formation and implementation of health and social policies. Through alliances with organizations such as the Palestinian Medical Council, the Pediatric Society, Obstetrics and Gynecology Society, Palestinian Health Syndicate and the Nursing Syndicate, Juzoor is supporting and shaping the national policy debate on various important health and social issues.

Juzoor regularly networks with national and regional organizations and institutions and is a part of numerous consortium's, forums and groups that work toward common goals. Juzoor helped create a national health policy forum to engage in focused discussions on critical health policies and challenges facing the Palestinian health system. In addition Juzoor has served as an advisor to the Ministry of Planning, helped lead the Population Forum, and is part of the Health NGOs consortium for ESCOW, Middle East Health Policy Forum, Arab Social Forum, and part of the Jerusalem NGO collation. The Foundation enjoys strong working relationship with the Ministry of Health and its different departments and has implemented several projects with the Ministry such as capacity building and training, development of guidelines, organizing joint workshops and conferences, supporting the midwifery program, and implementing the psychosocial program... Read More >>

Juzoor is cooperating with Al Quds University in Jerusalem and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health in the UK in offering a Child Health Diploma course for Palestinian doctors and nurses. The diploma course focuses on the latest, evidenced-based knowledge and skills in child health issues.

In cooperation with the Palestinian Ministry of Health and the French Development Agency, Juzoor is implementing a project to train doctors and nurses working in primary health centers (PHCs) in practical skills to address the mental health needs of PHC patients, particularly women and children.

Juzoor, supported by Dan Church Aid (DCA) and in cooperation with local partners and consultants, has implemented a project to develop up-to-date, evidence-based protocols for the screening and management of Gestational Diabetes (GDM) and Hypertensive Disorders in Pregnancy (HDP), including advocating their acceptance nationally and training health services providers on how to effectively use these protocols to prevent, screen and manage these illnesses. Following this successful intervention, Juzoor began a second project to develop and implement a community based approach to diabetes mellitus management in selected Palestinian communities. This follow-on project also includes capacity building of health professionals and clinics in the targeted areas as well as the development of two model centers that can fully implement the standardized protocols in preventing, screening and managing diabetes.

Juzoor is implementing a project to enhance women's access to and utilization of quality reproductive health services in villages of Ramallah district where Juzoor has successfully developed models of services and provided technical support to area health providers. The program involves comprehensive, interrelated activities targeting youth, women, and health providers with outreach, behavior change and communication (BCC), health education and training components.

In cooperation with medical and nursing school instructors Juzoor has developed an updated breastfeeding curriculum with accompanying instructor training manual to standardize breastfeeding education for doctors, nurses and midwives in learning institutions throughout Palestine. The goal of the curriculum is to train students to provide accurate, effective, high-quality breastfeeding counseling to mothers.

Juzoor implemented a training project in community nutrition approaches. The project consists of training-of-trainers to strengthen nutrition service delivery by the Palestinian health sector by creating a network of competent nutrition trainers and focal points in a range of health institutes.

ALSO is an educational program designed to assist healthcare professionals in developing and maintaining the knowledge and procedural skills needed to manage emergencies that can arise in obstetrical care. The ALSO training curriculum address issues such as: complications of pregnancy, labor and delivery, postpartum hemorrhage, safety in maternity care, and maternal resuscitation. In 2004 Juzoor obtained the exclusive license from the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) to offer this course in the West Bank and Gaza, making Palestine the second country in the Arab world to implement ALSO trainings. The addition of ALSO to reproductive health systems in Palestine has improved access to, standardization of and quality of emergency obstetric care (EOC); enhanced the teamwork approach to obstetric emergencies and the interactions between physicians and midwives; and facilitated dialogue among gynecologists and obstetricians and the pediatricians who participate in the Neonatal Resuscitation training associated with ALSO.

Because neonatal mortality contributes substantially to Palestine’s infant mortality rate, there is a need to improve the quality of neonatal care. To begin addressing this, Juzoor has introduced the American Heart Association’s Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) to Palestine. NRP is a standardized, universally approved training program that is in accordance with the latest evidence-based knowledge and skills. This training has been provided to pediatric and OB/GYN residents, midwives and neonatal nurses in the West Bank and Gaza.

Juzoor began a specialized training course for doctors and nurses in pediatric advanced life support to address the need for specialized emergency services for children. The course is offered in collaboration with the Palestinian Pediatric Society (PSP) and is helping to improve children’s access to life-saving care.

Juzoor implemented two projects in hospital based emergency training across the West Bank targeting doctors and nurses working in hospital emergency rooms. These efforts have proven important during periods of conflict and crisis, helping providers appropriately respond to an increasing number of emergencies and injuries. These trainings also contribute to building the emergency response capacity of institutions and providers throughout the country, which will have long-lasting benefits beyond responding to the immediate needs brought on by widespread military activity and violence in the Palestine.

Juzoor staff have a long history of working with women’s and community groups on a range of reproductive health issues that serve to empower women’s awareness of their reproductive health rights, and promote their individual development, including providing trainings on breast self-exam and preparing for labor and delivery, producing a curriculum and manual on women’s reproductive health rights (in cooperation with the WCLAC - Women’s Center for Legal Aid and Counseling), and building women’s awareness of the elements of quality reproductive health care and encouraging them to demand quality care. Juzoor also serves as a key resource that local organizations can call upon for technical support, materials and presentations.

In response to the increasing needs and demands to address the mental and psychosocial health of Palestinian people, Juzoor places psychosocial health and well-being on the top of its agenda. Juzoor intervenes at various levels (community, provider, institutional) targeting different groups (children, women, youth, refugees, and health professionals) and networks with other specialized organizations in the field to offer comprehensive services and support. It implements projects that respond to communities’ psychosocial needs and provides them with the necessary support to enable them to survive the ongoing critical situation.

Through its affiliation with the Italian Peace Table Juzoor has provided financial sponsorship to children with health and social challenges such as children with diabetes, or children whose families have lost their sources of income.

Since 2002 Juzoor has worked with women who have experienced loss, particularly in the Jenin camp and surrounding villages, and in the refugee camps throughout the Old City and newer areas of Nablus. Activities were designed to address the psychosocial aspects and implications of the conflict on women subjected to loss. Since many women were not empowered to deal with their trauma and take on their new social and economic roles, Juzoor’s activities included training and support by forming groups using an approach called "Women-to-Women"... Read More >>

At the onset of the Intifada, Juzoor initiated an emergency hotline to support its network of health professionals who were able to connect women in labor who could not reach health facilities during the crisis with expert physicians, nurses and midwives who were able to either reach the delivery site to attend, or to provide guidance by phone. Providers attending women who developed unusual complications at home were also able to reach expert advice from leading obstetricians through the hotline. Midwives, who mobilized to support the women in their communities, were the backbone of this successful hotline service, which has systematized and elaborated into a database of active and/or available reproductive health providers throughout the West Bank.

To address the declining nutritional status among children, Juzoor is implementing an innovative project entitled “Combating Poverty of Palestinian women and Improving Nutritional Status of School Children.” The project aims to both empower Palestinian rural women and address children’s nutritional needs. The project strategy is to provide support to women groups in selected villages in the West Bank, training them on business, marketing and nutrition skills, enabling them to run the canteens in village schools. The women’s groups make healthy, nutritional food to offer in the canteens on a daily basis, thus helping to change the prevailing pattern of children eating unhealthy snacks in school.

In 2006 Juzoor began implementation of a project called “Min Ajlek Ya Quds” in a group of Jerusalem schools. The project targets youth ages 13 to 17 with various activities that help to inspire them to develop not only themselves, but the world around them. The main concept of the project is a Youth Parliament, which is a representative body made up of students who are elected by their classmates. The Parliament provides a forum for youth to prioritize, address and take action on different issues related to the challenges they face today in Jerusalem. The program also involves a strong community service component, and Parliament members are encouraged to undertake projects that benefit the wider society.

Keef Assiha is a monthly educational public health magazine that is published in Arabic. The magazine addresses all sectors of Palestinian society and aims to provide basic as well as scientific and practical information concerning topics in medicine, health, and the environment. The magazine also responds to individuals’ most frequently asked questions and inquiries and contains a directory of health providers and services throughout the West Bank. In addition, it offers room for readers’ questions and queries as well as responses from medical and health specialists. Juzoor conducts editorial and technical review of the articles, and selects the articles to be included in the current issue.