Gender Matters Bulletin - Nowhere to call home: The impact of displacement on the shelter needs of women and girls in the West Bank (October 2025)

The West Bank Shelter Cluster and Gender in Humanitarian Action (GiHA) Working Group produced this Gender Matters Bulletin: Nowhere to Call Home to highlight the gender-specific impacts of the ongoing humanitarian crisis on the shelter needs of women and girls. It serves as an accompaniment to the West Bank Shelter Needs Assessment Report (July 2025). The assessment found that the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation, particularly in the northern West Bank including Jenin, Nablus, Tubas and Tulkarm, is disproportionately affecting women and women- headed households, shaping their specific needs, exposure to risks, lived experiences, and coping strategies. Women and women-headed households are more likely than men and men-headed households to experience home demolitions, share shelters with other families, and rely on hosted arrangements. These conditions often result in overcrowding and a lack of privacy, increasing their exposure to gender-based violence. They are also affected by limited access to essential services, heightened psychological distress, and insufficient awareness of, or access to, accurate, timely information and safe, confidential feedback mechanisms. Conflict and displacement are reshaping gendered household dynamics, roles, and decision-making, particularly in families newly headed by women following the arrest, detention, or death of male relatives. This bulletin highlights that while women are disproportionately affected by shelter insecurity and displacement, they also serve as key agents of resilience, leading efforts to secure safe housing, adapt to new environments, and sustain community cohesion during crisis.

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 the West Bank by UN Women and the Palestinian women-led organization, the Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development (PWWSD). The group includes members from humanitarian organizations such as United Nations agencies and international, national and local non-governmental organizations, including women-led organizations.

For information or to arrange an interview, please contact:

• UN Women: Manal Musleh, manal.musleh@unwomen.org
• The Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development (PWWSD): Amal Khreishe, amal.gd@pwwsd.org
• Shelter Cluster: Fadi Shamisti, coord1.palestine@sheltercluster.org