Situation of and assistance to Palestinian women – Resolution adopted by the Economic and Social Council (E/RES/2025/34)

30 July 2025

2025 session

Agenda item 17

Economic and social repercussions of the Israeli occupation on the living conditions of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan

Resolution adopted by the Economic and Social Council on 30 July 2025

[on a proposal considered in plenary meeting (E/2025/L.28)]

2025/34. Situation of and assistance to Palestinian women

The Economic and Social Council,

Having considered the report of the Secretary-General,^[1]

Recalling its relevant resolutions and all other relevant United Nations resolutions,

Recalling also Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) of 31 October 2000, including its call upon all parties to armed conflict to respect fully international law applicable to the rights and protection of women and girls, especially as civilians, and its emphasis on the responsibility of all States to put an end to impunity,

Recalling further the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,^[2]

Recalling the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women^[3] as it concerns the protection of civilian populations,

Reaffirming the obligations of States and all parties to armed conflict to comply with international humanitarian law and international human rights law, as applicable, and the need to end all violations of international humanitarian law and all violations and abuses of human rights,

Reaffirming also the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women,^[4] the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action,^[5] the outcomes of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly, entitled “Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century”,^[6] and the political declaration on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women adopted by the Commission on the Status of Women at its sixty-ninth session,^[7] and reaffirming its commitment to their full, effective and accelerated implementation,

Reaffirming further the importance of increasing the role of women in peacebuilding and decision-making with regard to conflict prevention and the peaceful resolution of conflicts as part of efforts to ensure the safety and well-being of all women in the region, stressing the importance of women’s equal participation and involvement in all efforts for the achievement, maintenance and promotion of peace and security, and welcoming in this regard the global call by international women leaders made on 1 July 2020,

Expressing grave concern about the continuing systematic violation of the human rights of the Palestinian people by Israel, the occupying Power, and its impact on women and girls,

Expressing grave concern also at the deaths of and injuries caused to civilians, including children, women, peaceful demonstrators and journalists, and emphasizing that civilian populations must be protected by all parties in accordance with international humanitarian law,

Strongly condemning, in this regard, the killing of the journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, and stressing the need to promptly ensure accountability,

Stressing the need for the protection of civil society actors to allow them to conduct their work freely and without fear of attacks and harassment from any party, and rejecting any attacks against civil society,

Stressing also the need to ensure accountability for all violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in order to end impunity, ensure justice, deter further violations, protect civilians and promote peace,

Deeply concerned about violence against women and girls in all its different forms and manifestations worldwide, which is underrecognized and underreported, particularly at the community level, and its pervasiveness, which reflects discriminatory norms that reinforce stereotypes and gender inequality and the corresponding impunity and lack of accountability, reiterating the need to intensify efforts to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls in the public and private spheres in all regions of the world, and re-emphasizing that violence against women and girls violates, and impairs their full enjoyment of, all human rights,

Noting the accession by Palestine to several human rights treaties and the core humanitarian law conventions, as well as other international treaties, and stressing the need to implement fully obligations under those instruments that protect the rights of women and girls, including during and post-conflict,

Noting also the importance of giving high priority to the swift adoption of the Personal Status Law to ensure that women and girls are protected from gender-based violence, including domestic violence,

Underlining the limitations on Palestinian jurisdiction in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, which undermine the ability of the Palestinian Government to protect Palestinian women and girls in certain areas,

Noting the importance of the agencies, organizations and bodies of the United Nations system in facilitating the advancement and empowerment of women in development in line with General Assembly resolution 79/226 of 19 December 2024,

1. Reaffirms that the Israeli occupation remains a major obstacle for Palestinian women and girls with regard to the fulfilment of their rights, and their advancement, self-reliance and integration in the development of their society;
2. Calls upon Israel, the occupying Power, to immediately cease all measures contrary to international law, as well as discriminatory legislation, policies and actions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, that violate the human rights of the Palestinian people, and stresses that Palestinian civilians, particularly women and children, account for the vast majority of those adversely affected by the conflict;
3. Calls for urgent measures to ensure the safety and protection of the Palestinian civilian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, in accordance with the relevant provisions of international humanitarian law and as called for by the Security Council in its resolution 904 (1994) of 18 March 1994;
4. Calls upon the parties to comply fully with their obligations, including as States Parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, taking fully into consideration the concluding observations as well as the general recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women;
5. Acknowledges the contribution of national coalitions and committees in advancing women’s rights, including those pertaining to resolution 1325 (2000), the Convention and combating violence against women;
6. Welcomes the adoption by the Palestinian Government of a national action plan for the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000) as well as of initiatives at the legislative, administrative and security levels to advance women’s rights, notably in relation to family law and combating violence against women;
7. Urges the international community to continue to give special attention to the promotion and protection of the human rights of Palestinian women and girls and to intensify its measures to improve the difficult conditions being faced by Palestinian women and their families, including those living under Israeli occupation, and recognizes the importance of integrating gender considerations across humanitarian programming by seeking to ensure the provision of access to protection and the full range of medical, legal and livelihood and psychosocial services, including services for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, without discrimination, and through ensuring that women and women’s groups can participate equally and meaningfully and are supported in being leaders in humanitarian action;
8. Calls upon the international community, including the United Nations, in particular the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, to continue to provide urgently needed assistance, especially emergency assistance, and services, bearing in mind, inter alia, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development^[8] and national priorities, in an effort to alleviate the dire humanitarian crisis being faced by Palestinian women and their families, in particular for addressing the catastrophic humanitarian crisis and deteriorating socioeconomic and psychosocial conditions in the Gaza Strip;
9. Recalls the need for all parties to armed conflict to respect the civilian and humanitarian character of refugee camps and to take into account the particular needs of women and girls, and stresses that the situation of the Palestine refugees, including women and girls, continues to be a matter of grave concern and that they continue to require assistance to meet basic health, education and living needs, pending a just resolution of the problem of Palestine refugees in conformity with General Assembly resolution 194 (III) of 11 December 1948;
10. Reaffirms the necessity of achieving a peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine, the core of the Arab-Israeli conflict, in all its aspects, and urges in this regard the intensification and acceleration of renewed international and regional diplomatic efforts and support aimed at achieving, without delay, a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East on the basis of the relevant United Nations resolutions, the Madrid terms of reference, including the principle of land for peace, the Arab Peace Initiative,^[9] the Quartet road map^[10] and an end to the Israeli occupation that began in 1967;
11. Stresses the importance of efforts to increase the role of Palestinian women in decision-making and of their full, equal and meaningful participation and involvement in all efforts for the achievement, maintenance and promotion of peace and security, and encourages Member States and observer States as well as the United Nations system to ensure systematic attention to, recognition of and support for the crucial role of Palestinian women at all levels by, inter alia, promoting women’s capacity, leadership, participation and engagement in political, economic and humanitarian decision-making and by improving the gender balance in senior civilian government positions and in security functions, while recognizing the need to protect women participating in public spaces from threats and reprisals;
12. Requests the Secretary-General to continue to review the situation, to assist Palestinian women by all available means, including those set out in his report, and to include information on the gender-specific impact of the occupation and the progress made in the implementation of the present resolution in his report on the economic and social repercussions of the Israeli occupation on the living conditions of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan to the Economic and Social Council at its 2026 session.

41st plenary meeting

30 July 2025

        [1] A/80/86-E/2025/71.

        [2] United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1249, No. 20378.

        [3] General Assembly resolution 48/104.

        [4] Report of the World Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace, Nairobi, 15–26 July 1985 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.85.IV.10), chap. I, sect. A.

        [5] Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 4–15 September 1995 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.96.IV.13), chap. I, resolution 1, annexes I and II.

        [6] General Assembly resolution S-23/2, annex, and resolution S-23/3, annex.

        [7] See Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 2025, Supplement No. 7 (E/2025/27), chap. I, sect. C.

        [8] General Assembly resolution 70/1.

        [9] A/56/1026-S/2002/932, annex II, resolution 14/221.

      [10] S/2003/529, annex.