“We left our homes with only the clothes on our backs. The day we left, an air strike struck our village, killed our neighbors and destroyed our house.”

This is what Salwa in Lebanon told us. More than 90,000 people in Lebanon have been displaced in the last month alone due to escalating violence.

While displacement affects everyone, the impacts on women and girls can often be devastatingly disproportionate.

Before we explain more, will you deliver lifesaving care to women and girls impacted by conflicts like in Lebanon? The needs of women and girls in particular are too often forgotten during times of crisis.

Maintaining decent health becomes significantly more challenging for women and girls experiencing menstruation or pregnancy while fleeing violence or seeking refuge in crowded shelters. Poor sanitation and menstrual hygiene in emergency settings can lead to illness and curb mobility.

“I have two teenage daughters who are now sharing a bathroom with hundreds of other people,” Alma told us. “Risks of infection are very high.”

Fear of violence against women — a risk that increases in emergency settings — can also take a toll on women’s and girls’ health.

“It’s so crowded in here and I feel shy all the time,” a 15-year-old girl told UNFPA. “I’m living with people that I don’t know, and I am hesitant every time I need to go to the bathroom, so I haven’t gone to the bathroom for four days now. I feel some pain because of it.”

In response to these challenges, UNFPA is delivering 8,000 Dignity Kits powered by your generous gifts, containing menstrual supplies, underwear, and soap. Also included are flashlights to help recipients safely access toilets at night, and information on support for survivors of violence.

“We fled with literally nothing with us,” said Alma, who received a UNFPA Dignity Kit. “Any feminine-hygiene product is essential at this point.”

As hostilities escalate and more women and girls are forcibly displaced, your support is urgently needed today. Will you deliver humanitarian aid and lifesaving care to women and girls impacted by violence in Lebanon and beyond?

Thank you for being there for women and girls.

— USA for UNFPA