Ministry of Social Development Statement on 16 Days of Activism Against Violence
Ramallah - The international campaign "16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence" kicks off today, starting on November 25 each year and continuing until December 10, which is International Human Rights Day. This campaign emphasizes that gender-based violence is a violation of human rights.
This year’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women comes under the most dangerous and harsh conditions in decades. After nearly 415 days of the bloody aggression of the Israeli occupation in Gaza since October 7, 2023, Palestinian women have borne the brunt of the suffering. Approximately 11,979 women have been martyred, 17,492 children, constituting 70% of the total number of martyrs, and more than 10,000 Palestinians have gone missing. Over 1.9 million Palestinians have been forcibly displaced by Israeli occupation forces, subjecting them to hunger, intimidation, and shortages of water, medicine, electricity, fuel, and health care due to the bombing of their places of refuge or direct targeting.
The suffering of Palestinian women in Gaza cannot be separated from the suffering of women and girls in the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem. The pace of Israeli crimes, attacks, and incursions into cities, villages, and refugee camps has increased, including large-scale arrests, house demolitions, and the use of women and children as human shields.
This campaign is used by all official and non-governmental, feminist, and human rights organizations around the world as an organizational strategy to advocate for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls. The Ministry of Social Development, through its leading role in the social protection sector, especially for women and girls, continuously aligns its work with national and government strategic plans in combating violence against women. This is done through all the services provided to women, including protection, relief, social care, and economic empowerment through support, assistance, reinforcement, reintegration, and rehabilitation in all its forms.
During the 16 days of the campaign, the Ministry, through its directorates and protection centers in all governorates, will carry out many activities related to violence against women and girls, targeting all segments of society to raise awareness of women's rights, prevent the degradation of their dignity, and work towards eliminating all forms of violence against them. The activities aim to enhance women's capabilities, raise awareness about their rights, and reject any form of violence against them. During the campaign, psychological and social support activities will be held for women and girls receiving services from the Ministry, as well as solidarity events for female prisoners in occupation prisons, supporting them and rejecting the violence and oppression they endure.
Every year, the campaign has an international theme, and the Ministry of Social Development has adopted this year's theme as "Stop the Genocide and Killing of Palestinian Women." There is no greater atrocity than the violence, violations, and genocide faced by women in Gaza, including killing, displacement, starvation, forced eviction, and systematic violence aimed at eliminating and subjugating Palestinian women.
Through this campaign, the Ministry of Social Development calls on the international community to take immediate action to implement the resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly to stop the aggression, genocidal war, and ethnic cleansing against our people in Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem. It calls for the application of international humanitarian law and the provision of international protection for all our people, particularly marginalized groups such as women, children, and people with disabilities. The Ministry also calls for intensified international advocacy and support campaigns for our just cause to end the systematic ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people and work towards ending the occupation in accordance with international legitimacy.
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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.
