Tony Bero: Profile of a UNU-GEST Fellow 2015

An interview with Tony Bero, a UNU-GEST fellow from Palestine, was featured in the weekly newsletter of the Icelandic Development Agency, ICEIDA.

Tony Bero is 35 years old and comes from Beit Jala city, near Bethlehem in West Bank, Palestine. He works at UNRWA/WBFO, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, which was established in 1949. Tony is married and has a daughter of almost 2 years, a mother, 1 brother and 2 sisters who all live in the Bethlehem Area. Before attending the UNU-GEST diploma programme, he had attended a course in Conviction, Leadership and Transformation in Australia in 2007 and received training for psychosocial trainers in Sweden in 2011 in addition to having training in project cycle management, leadership, and strategic planning.

Why did you decide to get a diploma in gender studies at the UNU-GEST programme in Iceland?

I heard about this programme a couple of years ago from my colleagues at UNRWA and I was hoping that one day I would be able to participate in it. In September 2014 I received an e-mail with a nomination from my boss allowing me to apply for the programme. I had to go through a screening process and for interviews, but eventually I succeed in getting the approval from UNRWA administration and also to pass the interview with the UNU-GEST, and here I am – in Iceland attending the UNU-GEST programme!

 What courses have you taken and what have you learned?

Subjects we took include critical thinking, women’s human rights, gender theories and gender analysis, gender mainstreaming approaches, engendering the logical framework, and climate change and environment from a gender perspective. We also learned about gender responsive budgeting, to take into consideration the needs of women, men, girls and boys as direct beneficiaries when preparing budgets for projects.

Which topics did you find most interesting to study and why?

Gender and Development, Gender Mainstreaming, Project Management and how to engender the logical framework, Gender Responsive Budgeting, and the Gender and Security module. All of this is important for my work at UNRWA back home.

What is the focus of your final project?

It is a project proposal on Gender-based violence (GBV) within the refugee community in West Bank, Palestine and how a multi-sectoral approach is needed to tackle the issue of GBV within the refugee population. It is important to identify what roles different stakeholders have in reducing gender-based violence within the Palestinian community. I hope that one day after coming back to my home country I will be able to get funds to implement this project, which would run for 3 years.

What career plans do you have when returning back home?

I hope this experience and the new skills and knowledge combined with my previous background will help me get promoted in my job and get a better position (to be the Gender Focal Point at UNRWA West Bank).

How do you intend to use your UNU-GEST diploma education once you are back in Palestine?

I would like to promote gender equality and gender mainstreaming in my projects and to understand more clearly what are the main issues in gender equality studies and how they apply to different cultures and circumstances. Once back home in Palestine I will work hard to raise awareness of gender and gender equality issues at my organization and other civil organizations I’m working or volunteering with, in order to minimize the discrimination against women. As we live in a patriarchal society and also under the Israeli occupation, the level of discrimination against Palestinians in general and against women in particular is very high.

What do you think you will miss the most from Iceland, the culture or the people, if there is anything?

Both. Hospitality is a main characteristic of the Icelandic people, they are friendly and like to help. And the culture also, I like the diversity in the Icelandic culture, no discrimination in any way, they respect others and don’t treat them as strangers.

I found very interesting when I moved here to see how men are involved in the parenting and upbringing of their children. I would notice many men coming to pick up their children at the playschool next to the flat where I live in on the University campus. In Palestine and other Arabic countries, parents do not share the responsibility equally, the responsibility fully rests with the mother.

The interview was conducted by Ásrún Birgisdóttir, an intern at the Icelandic Association of the UN. The interview in Icelandic can be found here.