FIRST: One year ago, a temporary ceasefire in Gaza was reached in the height of winter. After 500 days of conflict, 45,000+ people had been killed. Over 100,000 people were injured. The healthcare system in Gaza was decimated. And 1.1 million people were suffering through catastrophic food insecurity and severe malnutrition.

But thanks to the gifts from our supporters, UNFPA was able to act swiftly and use the ceasefire agreement as an opportunity to scale up our humanitarian response. Trucks full of lifesaving reproductive health medicines, hygiene items, and postpartum supplies entered Gaza and reached the women and girls who needed them.

Women in Gaza leaving their homes with their children.

THEN: The ceasefire did not last. Those in Gaza endured another nine months of continued attacks until a new ceasefire was reached — a full nine months during which some pregnant women endured their full pregnancies without care. Through conflict, women never stopped giving birth, needing reproductive healthcare, or managing their periods, even as they were displaced and basic necessities and health services became inaccessible.

NOW: While the current ceasefire agreement enacted in October brings hope, the conditions remain fragile, and there is still widespread suffering. Every single day, 18 women give birth outside of healthcare facilities — on roadsides, in freezing tents, and without any medical care. An estimated 37,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women and counting are in need of clinical treatment. And as winter worsens, displaced families have little more than paper-thin tents that leave them exposed to plummeting temperatures, icy rain, and snow.

Since before the conflict began, UNFPA has never left Gaza. Our teams are working around the clock to deliver medical supplies, station midwives across the Gaza Strip, and reach every woman in need before the harsh winter takes more lives — but we can only continue these vital services with your support.

While Gaza and the West Bank lie in ruins, you can help recovery efforts and provide lifesaving healthcare services to pregnant women, new mothers, and their children by making a gift today. Will you open your heart and deliver winter aid in Gaza and wherever your support is needed most?

Midwife Heyam after completing a shift providing care to women and newborns at an overstretched maternity unit in Rafah, prior to her relocation to Gaza City.

We welcome the ceasefire agreement, the release of all hostages by Hamas, and the delivery of lifesaving humanitarian aid in Gaza. We are hopeful that peace will prevail and that the suffering of women, girls, and families will end.

Thank you for being there for women and girls who have lost everything. 

— USA for UNFPA