Women supported their families during the war and can play a central role in Gaza’s reconstruction. UN: Women must be “architects” of reconstruction in Gaza Women
One in seven families in Gaza today is headed only by a woman. Having lost their husbands and been left without a home or a job, these women alone are responsible for the survival of their children and the rebuilding of their communities. Sophia Calthorpe, head of humanitarian programs at UN Women, announced this today at a briefing in Geneva.
The crisis is not over
After the ceasefire, she noted, the crisis did not end, it only changed shape. Today, more than a million women and girls in Gaza are in need of food assistance.
The first shipments of humanitarian aid began arriving in Gaza last week. Residents of the sector received food, water, medicine and personal hygiene items. For many women, this is the first chance for a break in many months and the opportunity to fall asleep in silence, and not to the sounds of airstrikes.
However, many still have no shelter in the face of the approaching winter and no confidence in the future. On average, Gazan women have had to flee their homes and shelters four times during the war.
UN Women is working with other UN agencies to help deliver humanitarian assistance that meets their needs. The organization strives to make them not just recipients of assistance, but participants in the recovery process.
Women must play a central role in recovery Gaza
“Women and girls must be the architects of the reconstruction of Gaza,” Calthrop said.
She recalled that even during the war Women-led organizations and small businesses, women educators and women health workers never stopped working.
“Many of them never stopped, even in the darkest days. They continued to provide care, protection and hope,” Calthorpe said.
Women are the ones who can turn survival into recovery, she said. “Every woman who rebuilds a bakery, a clinic, or a school office is rebuilding the world,” she said.
Calthrop noted that for every dollar invested in women-led projects, there is eight dollars of economic benefit to the community. By excluding women from reconstruction processes, the international community risks excluding them from Gaza’s future.
“If we believe in peace, we must rebuild it with the help of women,” Calthorpe said.