Joint Statement from the Gender in Humanitarian Action Working Group on the Famine in Gaza: Women and girls are starving while the world watches [EN/AR]

5 September 2025

The Gender in Humanitarian Action (GiHA) Working Group is deeply alarmed by the ongoing deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Gaza, where Famine has become a devastating daily reality, and millions, including women and girls continue to endure unimaginable suffering.

“I’ve become the pillar holding up my family. I’m responsible for five children, with no support. For fifteen days, I ran in just my socks, stepping on shattered glass, all to find a single loaf of bread. Every day I returned empty-handed. My four-year-old daughter looks at me with hungry eyes and says, ‘Mama, I want to eat.’ I can only cry helplessly. Where can I find food for them?” – Lamees, mother in Gaza

The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report confirms what we have known for months – Famine has reached Gaza, the first time a Famine has been confirmed in the Middle East region. Based on IPC data, UN Women estimates that nearly one quarter of a million women and girls are facing catastrophic conditions (IPC Phase 5), over half a million women and girls are experiencing emergency levels of hunger (IPC Phase 4), and nearly 200,000 women and girls are living with crisis levels of food insecurity (IPC Phase 3), underscoring the staggering scale of the crisis.

According to the Gaza Ministry of Health (MoH), between 7 October 2023 and 31 August 2025, at least 22 women and 124 children have died of malnutrition; while the IPC analysis projects that 55,500 pregnant and breastfeeding women and 132,000 children require lifesaving treatment for severe acute malnutrition; and the Gaza Nutrition Cluster estimates that 150,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women and 290,000 children need nutritional supplements. Without immediate support, pregnant and breastfeeding women face grave risks of pregnancy complications, miscarriages, and long-term health consequences, while children are at heightened risk of irreversible developmental delays.

“I’m suffering deeply. I lost my husband, and now I struggle every day just to keep my children alive. I collect plastic and scraps of material so I can cook, but still, my children are starving. I don’t know where to find food for them. When their father was alive, he supported us and made sure there was always food for the children. Now, without him, we’re left with nothing.” – Rawia, widowed mother in Gaza

Every day, women and girls are forced to make impossible choices to survive, resorting to extremely severe coping mechanisms to feed themselves, such as skipping meals, taking significant safety risks to obtain food, selling personal belongings, and scavenging from the garbage. Women also face higher risks while cooking, cleaning, and caring for children and relatives, increasing exposure to waterborne diseases which exacerbates malnutrition. With cooking gas scarce or unaffordable, many women are forced to burn firewood or waste, inhaling toxic smoke that causes respiratory illnesses and contributes to environmental degradation.

Searching for food has become a matter of life and death for women and girls. Reliance on militarised aid distribution points force thousands of starving civilians to converge at just a few locations. Women and girls must walk long distances under bombardment, wait for hours in chaotic and overcrowded lines, and carry heavy parcels. Women-headed households – now estimated at over 50,000 by UN Women – face immense pressure to feed their families. Adolescent girls, older women, and women and girls with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to injury or death in these dangerous conditions. According to the Gaza MoH, between 27 May 2025 and 31 August 2025, at least 34 women and 455 children have been killed while seeking food at or near these points or waiting for humanitarian aid convoys.

“In Gaza, the fight for survival is not just about food, it’s about preserving dignity. More than two million people are under siege, all are in urgent need, and the available aid has never been enough. We can’t just keep people alive; we have to keep their dignity alive too.” – Amal Syam, Director, Women’s Affairs Centre

Famine is a race against time, and every effort counts to avert this man-made disaster. Immediate and decisive action must be taken to protect the lives, wellbeing, dignity, and futures of women and girls. The GiHA Working Group urgently calls on all parties to implement an immediate, sustained ceasefire; guarantee safe, unconditional humanitarian access; scale up urgent humanitarian assistance; protect civilians and restore critical infrastructure; and allow entry of commercial goods to revive local markets and food production. Palestinian women-led organizations must also be supported to deliver lifesaving services including food assistance to women and girls and to sustain and expand their operations as critical frontline responders.

Notes to editors

The GiHA Working Group aims to collectively coordinate and advance gender equality in humanitarian action in Palestine. The GiHA Working Group is co-chaired in Gaza by UN Women and the Palestinian women-led organization, the Women’s Affairs Centre (WAC). The group includes members from humanitarian organizations such as United Nations agencies and international, national and local non-governmental organizations, including women-led organizations.

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Joint Statement from the Gender in Humanitarian Action Working Group on the Famine in Gaza: Women and girls are starving while the world watches [EN/AR]

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