GAZA CITY: More than one million women and girls in Gaza are in need of food assistance, with nearly 250,000 requiring immediate nutritional support, according to UN Women.
The organisation warned that, despite a “fragile” ceasefire, the humanitarian crisis remains far from over.
“This ceasefire is our window to deliver fast and to stop famine before it takes hold,” UN Women Geneva Office director Sofia Calltorp told reporters on Friday at a press briefing.
She stated that the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, reached earlier this month, has provided a brief respite but “has not ended the crisis.” Many women and girls, who have been displaced multiple times during the conflict, now face the harsh winter without adequate shelter.
“For two years, women and girls in Gaza were killed at the rate of roughly two every hour. This number only defines the scale of this war, and it will haunt our collective conscience for generations,” Calltorp said. “Most women in Gaza have been displaced at least four times during the war, and this ceasefire is the first chance for them to stop running, to find safety and to rebuild.”
UN Women reports that one in seven families in Gaza is now headed by a woman. These women urgently need direct access to aid so they can feed their children, access healthcare, rebuild their livelihoods, and regain a sense of stability after losing everything.
Calltorp stressed that recovery in the Palestinian enclave will not be possible without women. “There will be no recovery without the women and girls who have kept Gaza alive through famine, fear and flight,” she said.
She urged all parties to uphold the ceasefire and called on donors to step up support.
“If we do not put the needs of women and girls at the centre, and if we do not include women’s organisations in the response and recovery, women will be excluded from the future of Gaza altogether,” she warned.
Calltorp also stressed the lasting benefits of supporting women-led aid initiatives, stating that “every dollar invested in women-led aid is a down payment on hope” and noting that such investments yield significant returns, with “every dollar generating an $8 return for the community.”
