More than one million women and girls in Gaza need food assistance, with nearly a quarter million requiring urgent nutrition support, UN Women said, warning that despite a "fragile" ceasefire, the crisis is 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 said the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel reached earlier this month, though offering a moment of respite, "has not ended the crisis." Many women and girls, displaced multiple times during the conflict, are now facing winter without 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."
'Losing everything'
According to UN Women, one in seven families in Gaza is now headed by a woman, and they need aid that reaches them directly "so that they can feed their children, access health care, rebuild livelihoods and restore some 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 highlighted the long-term impact of investing in women-led aid efforts, saying that "every dollar invested in women-led aid is a down payment on hope" and "when we invest in women, every dollar generates an $8 return for those communities."
