Occupied Palestinian Territory

A total estimated 136,402 Palestinians, particularly women and girls, and at least 200,000 Palestinian indirectly accessed multisectoral services across Palestine. This was achieved through partners who kept delivering despite the dire challenges. The focus remained reaching the most at risk and marginalized, such as women headed households, women with disabilities and elderly women. PALCO partnered with twenty-six civil society organizations, including fourteen women-led organizations. These services delivered included gender-based violence (GBV) case management, sheltering and reintegration, psychosocial support, and livelihood response (cash for work, cash assistance) to women and girls most affected in Gaza, as well as the West Bank. In 2024, 58,402 Palestinians (including 35,300 women, 11,966 children and 1,327 people with disabilities) had direct access to the services. At the same time, through partnership with the WFP, 15,600 women-head household and their dependents (78,000 people) accessed food in 2024. Throughout 2024, the PalCO remained committed to advancing the women's agenda in Palestine. In response to the Gaza conflict and increased violence in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, PALCO increased focus to humanitarian assistance, creating a comprehensive support system to address the needs of women and girls. The situation in the oPt exacerbated gender specific and intersectional risks and vulnerabilities, increasing unequal social, political, and economic power dynamics. In Gaza, the necessity to putting in place minimum risk mitigation measures, bearing in mind that gender, age, abilities, etc., exposed women, men, or children to different forms of risks and victimization arose early in the hostilities. This translated into notably emerging risks of abuse of unaccompanied and separated children; a significant rise in gender-based violence and violence against women; increased gender-based exposure of vulnerable constituencies to multifaceted forms of sexual exploitation and abuse. AS such, besides supporting the provision of lifesaving services and times and to ensure increased support to all, PalCO also worked towards enhancing humanitarian actors' capacity for gender-responsive assistance, co-chairing the GiHA Working Group with UNOCHA and the PSEA Network. In the West Bank, increased movement restrictions hindered access to services and livelihoods, especially for specific groups of women. PalCO worked on ensuring holistic assistance to vulnerable communities while continuing to strengthen key systems.

The High National Committee to Combat VAW under the leadership of the Ministry of Women�s Affairs developed a new national Protocol to safeguard women's rights to protection, safety, dignity and access to services during crisis and emergencies, including pandemics, armed aggressions, or climate-related disasters. A variety of actors will use the Protocol, including those in the justice, security, health, and social sectors, such as NGOs, CBOs, The National Center for Disaster Risk Management, The Supreme Council for Civil Defense, Palestinian Red Crescent Society, Palestinian Medical Relief Society, and others. The Protocol also establishes a well-defined structure at the national, governorate, and local levels, ensuring an effective framework during emergencies with stages and steps for managing crises. This includes the formation of a National Technical Committee, Committees in each Governorate, and Local Committees, articulation of specific procedures for the duration of emergencies and clarification for the obligations and rights of first responders, and a detailed flow of the referral system, supported by practical tips for handling cases of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). The Protocol complements the National Referral System (NRS) by: Establishing basic rules that are binding on all partners while providing service to victim/survivors during emergencies, in accordance with international principles of human rights and with international standards and national capacities; Providing all services the victim/survivor needs in a comprehensive manner; Ensuring protection and empowerment of the victim/survivor; Determining the responsibilities and roles of service providers in accordance with the standards of effective cooperation and partnership; Strengthening follow-up, accountability and transparency mechanisms; The Protocol will become an inseparable part of the NRS, not as additional SOPs and procedures, but adapting the existing forms and procedures to emergency situations and proposing an optimized territorial structure for emergency response. The protocol addresses structural and legal barriers by increasing service accessibility through a new national coordinated platform for the referral and the management of VAW cases during emergencies, providing essential services to women at local levels to cope with restrictions on movement, and centering women�s dignity so fears about how they will be treated do not deter access. UN Women collaborated with the High National Committee to develop and review the Protocol. MoWA and UN Women will organize national consultations on the Protocol before submitting it to the Cabinet for endorsement. UN Women�s technical support ensured the Protocol aligned with intern