Which Palestinian group was announced on International Women's Day in 1978?

The Women’s Work Committee was the Palestinian group announced on International Women’s Day in 1978.

The committee emerged during a period when Palestinian women were linking national liberation with demands for social and economic equality. Its founders believed earlier charitable societies had not done enough to educate the broader population or organize women from working-class communities.

The committee therefore developed practical programs alongside political activism. These included literacy and health-education initiatives, embroidery classes and daycare centers. Childcare was especially important because it enabled women to continue working and participating in public life while their children were cared for.

The organization later divided into four committees in the early 1980s because of differing political agendas and ideologies. Those successor groups included organizations aligned with the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Palestinian Communist Party. The Women’s Work Committee should not be confused with the older General Union of Palestinian Women, which had a different history and organizational role.