Attachments
Palestinian Women-Led Organizations (WLOs) and Women’s Rights Organizations (WROs)i play an essential role in delivering humanitarian assistance and advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls across Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The 2025 Palestine Flash Appeal recognizes the essential role that WLOs/WROs play in humanitarian action. This report is primarily informed by a mapping exercise of 27 Palestinian WLOs/WROs in June 2025 and has three main objectives: (i) to map Palestinian WLOs/WROs engaged in humanitarian action across Gaza and the West Bank; (ii) to document their priorities, challenges, and experiences; and (iii) to provide practical guidance and recommendations to humanitarian stakeholders across the response to engage more effectively with and support these organizations.
Palestinian WLOs/WROs remain significantly under-represented in humanitarian leadership and decision- making. At the national level, they are absent from all strategic governance and coordination mechanisms. In Gaza, only 9 per cent of humanitarian coordination mechanisms are led or co-led by WLOs/WROs, and in the West Bank only 6 per cent. Of the 27 WLOs/WROs surveyed, 93 per cent participate in national coordination mechanisms, 63 per cent in sub-national mechanisms in Gaza, and 44 per cent in sub-national mechanisms in the West Bank. However, participation is uneven and concentrated mainly in the Gender in Humanitarian Action Working Group and the Protection Cluster and related Areas of Responsibility. In particular, WLOs/WROs do not participate in the Shelter Cluster, Site Management Cluster, or Area-Based Coordination Working Groups.
The vast majority of Palestinian WLOs/WROs indicated that participation in humanitarian coordination mechanisms has strengthened their work and shared targeted recommendations to expand opportunities, maximize benefits, and overcome persistent barriers. Despite this, WLOs/WROs remain chronically underfunded. In 2024, they received only 0.4% (US $10.4 million) of total humanitarian financing under the Palestine Flash Appeal.
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) and in Gaza by UN Women and the Palestinian women-led organization, the Women’s Affairs Centre. 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