MoSD: Displacement, Poverty, & Loss of Income Increase the Risks of Violence against Women & Girls
On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, MoSD: Protection Requires a Sustainable Response & Empowerment Beyond Emergency Interventions
Ramallah – On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, observed annually on 25 November, and the launch of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, the Ministry of Social Development emphasized that protecting women and girls is a fundamental pillar of the social protection system. The Ministry stressed that an effective response must go beyond intervention after violence occurs to include prevention, early detection, case management, psychological and legal support, safe shelter, rehabilitation, reintegration, and economic empowerment.
The Ministry explained that the situation facing Palestinian women has become increasingly complex amid the Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip and escalating attacks, displacement, poverty, and loss of income in the West Bank. These conditions expose women and girls to overlapping risks of violence, alongside growing caregiving and financial responsibilities, loss of privacy, and difficulties accessing essential services.
Data from 2025 highlight the increasing pressure on the protection system. The Ministry's directorates in the West Bank provided services to approximately 850 women affected by gender-based violence, while around 3,000 women in the Gaza Strip benefited from protection, shelter, psychosocial support, and legal assistance services.
In addition, approximately 1,100 displaced women in Jenin and Tulkarm camps received financial assistance, psychosocial counselling sessions, and dignity kits. The Ministry also supported the creation of 40 employment opportunities and 40 economic empowerment projects for survivors of violence and female-headed households.
In the Gaza Strip, the vulnerability of women and girls has intensified significantly. According to Ministry data, more than 28,000 women have lost their husbands during the military offensive, while estimates from UN Women indicate that one in every seven households in Gaza is headed by a woman. This places additional economic and social burdens on women amid displacement, loss of livelihoods, and weakened protection networks.
Furthermore, analyses conducted by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in 2025 showed that denial of resources and opportunities accounted for 35.5% of reported forms of violence in Gaza, followed by psychological violence at 29.8% and physical assault at 25.8%. These figures reflect the close relationship between displacement, poverty, insecurity, and increasing risks of violence.
The Ministry explained that its women's protection services include receiving reports of violence, case management, family follow-up, psychosocial support, legal assistance, referrals, safe shelter, financial assistance, rehabilitation, reintegration, and economic empowerment. These services are delivered through the Ministry's directorates and protection centres in partnership with local and international organizations.
During 2026, the Ministry strengthened its protection system by adopting unified procedures for women's and children's protection case files, regulating the handling of reports, referral pathways, and follow-up mechanisms while safeguarding data confidentiality and privacy. These measures aim to improve service quality and ensure continuity of care and protection.
The Ministry stressed that effective protection for women does not end with removing them from immediate danger. It also requires addressing the underlying factors that may expose them to repeated violence, particularly poverty, economic dependence, lack of safe housing, and limited access to services.
For this reason, the Ministry integrates protection services with social assistance and economic empowerment programmes to strengthen women's independence and reduce their vulnerability to violence.
The Ministry of Social Development called on government institutions, civil society organizations, United Nations agencies, the private sector, and donors to increase investment in protection centres, safe shelters, psychological and legal support, case management, referral pathways, and economic empowerment programmes.
It emphasized the importance of prioritizing displaced women, women with disabilities, older women, female heads of households, and girls facing heightened protection risks.
The Ministry concluded by stressing that the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence must not remain a seasonal campaign, but should form part of sustained efforts throughout the year.
It reaffirmed that the safety and dignity of women and girls, and their rights to protection, justice, essential services, and empowerment, must remain at the heart of the social protection system.
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On the International Day for the Elimination of Child Marriage, MoSD Affirms: Protecting Girls Begins with Education, Protection, & Family Empowerment
Ramallah – On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Child, Early and Forced Marriage, the Ministry of Social Development emphasized that child marriage cannot be addressed in isolation from the broader social protection system, as it is linked to multiple factors, including poverty, school dropout, domestic violence, loss of parental care, displacement, and weakened protection networks. The Ministry explained that its role includes protecting children and girls at risk, providing case management, family interventions, psychosocial support, and referral services, and connecting families with assistance, essential services, and economic empowerment programmes. It also coordinates with relevant authorities when the safety of a child or girl is at risk. The Ministry places the best interests of the child and protection from exploitation and abuse at the heart of its child protection services. The Ministry stressed that preventing early marriage also requires protecting families from poverty and economic shocks, supporting girls' continued access to education, raising awareness of their rights, and strengthening families' ability to cope with pressures without resorting to practices that may expose girls to long-term physical, psychological, and social risks. The issue is particularly concerning in the Gaza Strip, where the Ministry warned that the loss of parental care, displacement, extreme poverty, and the declining capacity of extended families to provide care and protection increase children's vulnerability to various forms of exploitation, including early marriage. In this context, the Ministry continues to work with local and international organizations involved in child and women's protection to strengthen early intervention, referral pathways, alternative care, and psychosocial support, alongside assistance to the most vulnerable families to reduce the risk factors that may contribute to early marriage. The Ministry called for child marriage to be addressed as a child protection and human rights issue requiring coordinated action among families and social, educational, health, and legal institutions. It also called for increased investment in girls' education, protection, and empowerment to safeguard their right to grow, learn, and make decisions about their future freely and safely.
On World Children's Day, MoSD: Palestinian Children Face Harsh Realities of Loss, Displacement, Violence, & Deprivation
Ramallah – On the occasion of World Children's Day, observed annually on 20 November, the Ministry of Social Development emphasized that Palestinian children are facing extremely harsh conditions amid the continuing consequences of the Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip and escalating attacks, displacement, home demolitions, and movement restrictions in the West Bank, including Jerusalem. These conditions have deprived children of their lives, families, shelter, education, care, and safety. According to available United Nations data, at least 21,700 children have been killed in the Gaza Strip, while approximately 45,000 have been injured, including more than 11,000 children who have sustained life-altering injuries. Meanwhile, thousands of families continue to experience repeated displacement and deprivation of essential services. In the West Bank, including Jerusalem, children continue to face attacks, forced displacement of families, and damage to schools, homes, and infrastructure. More than 1,700 children have been displaced since the beginning of 2026 as a result of settler violence, movement restrictions, and demolitions. The Ministry stressed that the consequences of war and occupation extend beyond immediate casualties to include bereavement, family separation, hunger, school dropout, child labour, violence, exploitation, acquired disabilities, and psychological and social distress. These risks require a comprehensive and long-term child protection response. The Ministry explained that child protection is a central pillar of its work, implemented through Child Protection Departments in its directorates. These departments receive reports, assess levels of risk, provide case management and family follow-up, facilitate referrals to specialized services, and intervene in cases of violence, abuse, exploitation, and neglect. Their responsibilities also include protecting children engaged in labour or begging, children who have dropped out of school, and children in conflict with the law, in coordination with relevant government authorities and partner organizations. In the Gaza Strip, children's protection and care needs have intensified significantly, particularly among orphans, children deprived of parental care, separated and unaccompanied children, and those requiring psychosocial support. In cooperation with its partners, the Ministry is working to provide alternative care, social follow-up, sponsorship programmes, psychological support, and food, health, and in-kind assistance, while strengthening and restoring child protection services across the Gaza Strip. The Ministry emphasized that protecting children is inseparable from protecting their families. Accordingly, child protection services form part of a broader social protection system encompassing food, cash, and non-food assistance, health insurance, education, school bags and stationery, psychosocial support, services for persons with disabilities, and family economic empowerment. These interventions aim to reduce the risks associated with poverty, displacement, loss of income, and family instability. The Ministry of Social Development called on the international community, United Nations agencies, humanitarian organizations, and donors to provide sustainable support for the Palestinian child protection system. It urged continued funding for alternative care programmes, orphan sponsorship, psychosocial support, education, nutrition, and rehabilitation, alongside support for Palestinian national institutions capable of reaching children and families and ensuring sustained follow-up. The Ministry concluded by emphasizing that World Children's Day cannot be merely an occasion for celebration while Palestinian children are deprived of their most fundamental rights. It stressed that protecting children begins with safeguarding their right to life and extends to ensuring their rights to family care, shelter, food, education, healthcare, protection, and social support.
