The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News | UNICEF , OHCHR , UN WOMEN
Humanitarian Situation in Gaza: UNICEF - OHCHR - UN WOMEN
STORYLINE
Gaza: More than one million Palestinian women and girls in Gaza have almost no access to food or safe water, with disease growing amidst ‘inhumane’ living conditions.
Six months into the war in Gaza, UN Women on Tuesday launched its latest Gender Alert on Gaza stating that 10,000 Palestinian women in Gaza have been killed, among them an estimated 6,000 mothers, leaving 19,000 children orphaned.
“To date, UN estimates that more than 8,000 women might have become widowed because of the recent war on Gaza, that means 8,000 husbands have been killed,” said Susanne Mikhail Eldhagen, Regional Director for the Arab States for UN Women.
Briefing journalists at the UN in Geneva from Cairo, she explained that these women were “in a particularly vulnerable situation because, as we can imagine, they are solely responsible for the very protection, well-being, but also assurance of food and water for their entire families”.
Women who have survived Israeli bombardment and ground operations have been displaced, widowed and now face starvation. The disproportionate impact of the conflict has made it a war on women, UN Women maintained.
“Women often find it much more difficult to access services. In this case, access food and water than men do. In the recent survey conducted in Gaza, it shows that 87 per cent of women find it harder to access food than men in Gaza,” said Ms. Eldhagen.
The publication launched on Tuesday (16 April) entitled “Scarcity and Fear” focuses on the lack of access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services, which are vital to women's health, dignity, safety and privacy.
According to the report’s finding, more than one million Palestinian women and girls in Gaza face catastrophic hunger, with almost no access to food, safe drinking water, functioning toilets or running water, creating life-threatening risks. Access to clean water is especially critical for breastfeeding mothers and pregnant women, who have higher daily water and calory requirements.
The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) deplored the high loss of life and injuries that Palestinian children in Gaza have sustained amid ongoing heavy Israeli bombardment.
Following her recent mission to northern Gaza where her UN vehicle was targeted, UNICEF's communications specialist Tess Ingram said from Cairo that over the last six months “a staggering number of children have been wounded amid the intense and often indiscriminate attacks, their lives forever changed by the horrors of war.
She noted that it was not possible to accurately estimate the total number of injured children in the conflict to date “but the most recent data from the Palestinian Ministry of Health documents more than 12,000 children, which is about 70 children a day injured in Gaza since the current conflict began.”
She added that “the war in Gaza is disproportionately impacting kids. Every second person in Gaza is a child, so children are wearing a tremendous share of the scars of this war.”
The UNICEF officer emphasized the ongoing challenges in evacuating critically injured or ill patients from Gaza for medical treatment elsewhere. With fewer than half of all "medivac" requests approved, only approximately 4,500 individuals, predominantly children, have been able to depart Gaza. This equates to fewer than 20 people per day gaining access to the care they urgently require outside the region.
“Sick and injured children who are evacuated must be accompanied by their family members. With at least 70 children injured every single day, we need the number of medical evacuations to increase so children can access the care that they urgently need. And with one child killed or injured every 10 minutes, above anything else, we need a ceasefire,” said Ms. Ingram.
Emphasizing the dire situation in Gaza, Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN human rights office, OHCHR, urged “all States with influence to do everything in their power to halt the increasingly horrific human rights and humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The rising violence and targeted attacks in the West Bank and the heightened risk of wider escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.”
According to OHCHR, nearly 1.7 million people remain forcibly displaced, living in appalling conditions and under constant threat. In the past week alone, fighting has intensified in Middle Gaza leading to the displacement of some 10,000 people from in and around An Nuseirat camp and near Wadi Gaza.
-ends-
STORY: Humanitarian Situation in Gaza: UNICEF - OHCHR - UN WOMEN
TRT: 2:51”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 16 April 2024 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
- Exterior medium shot: UN flag alley
- Wide shot: speakers at the podium during press conference
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Tess Ingram, Communication specialist, UNICEF (speaking from Cairo): “Over the last six months, a staggering number of children have been wounded amid the intense and often indiscriminate attacks. Their lives forever changed by the horrors of war. The total number of injured children in this conflict is quite difficult to gather, but the most recent data from the Palestinian Ministry of Health documents more than 12,000 children, which is about 70 children a day injured in Gaza since the current conflict began.”
- Med shot: speakers at the podium from behind with screen in front of them
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Tess Ingram, Communication specialist, UNICEF (speaking from Cairo): “It's disproportionately impacting kids. Every second person in Gaza is a child, so children are wearing a tremendous share of the scars of this war.”
- Med shot: Journalists in the press room
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Tess Ingram, Communication specialist, UNICEF (speaking from Cairo): “Sick and injured children who are evacuated must be accompanied by their family members. With at least 70 children injured every single day, we need the number of medical evacuations to increase so children can access the care that they urgently need. And with one child killed or injured every 10 minutes, above anything else, we need a ceasefire.”
- Wide shot: Journalists in the press room and speakers at the podium
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson, OHCHR: “The UN Human Rights Office urges all States with influence to do everything in their power to halt the increasingly horrific human rights and humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The rising violence and targeted attacks in the West Bank, and the heightened risk of wider escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.”
- Med shot: speaker at the podium from the side with journalists in the room
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Susanne Mikhail Eldhagen, Regional Director for the Arab States, UN Women (speaking from Cairo): “Up to date, UN estimates that more than 8,000 women might have become widowed because of the recent war on Gaza. That means 8,000 husbands have been killed. These women are in a particularly vulnerable situation because, as we can imagine, they are solely responsible for the very protection, well-being, but also assurance of food and water for their entire families.”
- Med shot, moderator at the podium with speaker on screen
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Susanne Mikhail Eldhagen, Regional Director for the Arab States, UN Women (speaking from Cairo): “Women often find it much more difficult to access services. In this case, access food and water than men do. In the recent survey conducted in Gaza, it shows that 87 per cent of women find it harder to access food, than men in Gaza.”
- Med shot, journalists in press briefing
- Close up: journalist listening
- Wide shot: Technical team working behind windows
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nashif on Tuesday presented a report on the human rights situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, detailing the continued violations of human rights as a result of the offensive launched by the Rwandan-backed M23 in eastern DRC.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF , IFRC
UN humanitarians and partners on Tuesday expressed deep shock at the killing of 15 colleagues on duty in southern Gaza whose remains were recovered from a shallow grave after a week-long rescue operation, noting that one worker is still missing.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , OCHA , WHO , UNHCR
Myanmar earthquake latest: window for lifesaving support is closing, say UN humanitarians
As the death toll continues to rise in earthquake-struck Myanmar, UN humanitarians have been rushing to support severely deprived and traumatized victims, warning that the window for lifesaving response is closing.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNWOMEN , WHO
Lifesaving supplies in Gaza continue to run dangerously low, nearly four weeks into the total aid blockade and deadly bombardment of the enclave by Israel, UN humanitarians said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
As Yemen’s conflict reaches 10-year mark, over half a million children severely malnourished
In Yemen, a decade of conflict has been catastrophic for the country’s children living under the threat of airstrikes and staggeringly high malnutrition rates, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | UNAIDS
Amid continuing uncertainty about the impact of deep US funding cuts to humanitarian work worldwide, the head of the UN agency coordinating the fight against HIV-AIDS warned that an addition 6.3 million people will die in the next four years, unless the support is reinstated.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office today published a report detailing how death, injury and lasting family separation are among the traumatic events that have upended the lives of Ukraine’s children in the three years since the Russian Federation launched its full-scale invasion.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , UNICEF , IFRC
Israel’s renewed bombing campaign and intensifying ground operation in Gaza are reversing gains achieved during the brief ceasefire, UN humanitarians said on Friday from inside the devastated enclave.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | HRC
The Human Rights Council on Wednesday heard gruesome testimony of torture, rape and execution of Ukrainian detainees and soldiers by Russian forces, as a high-level independent probe delivered its latest mandated report in Geneva.
2
23
1
1
Edited News , Press Conferences | UNITED NATIONS
Cyprus talks result in trust-building measures, show ‘new atmosphere’ among divided island’s leaders, says UN’s Guterres
UN-led efforts to kick-start talks on the divided Mediterranean island of Cyprus have resulted in agreements on new trust-building measures and also underscored the positive “new atmosphere” surrounding the discussions, Secretary-General António Guterres said on Tuesday.
1
62
1
2
Edited News , Images | UNITED NATIONS , UNOG
Fresh talks over the future of Cyprus continued on Tuesday as representatives of the divided Mediterranean island gathered at the UN in Geneva along with guarantors Greece, Türkiye and the United Kingdom at the request of UN chief António Guterres.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG , WFP
The Government of Israel has ramped up settlement of the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, transferring its own population into the territory and unlawfully demolishing Palestinian homes. At the same time settler violence has increased with continued impunity, the UN Human Rights Office said on Tuesday.