676 million women live within 50 kilometers of deadly conflict by UNFPA, UN Women, IPU, PMNCH, agency   May 2026   How war impacts women and girls. (UN Women)   Around the world, conflicts are becoming longer, more brutal, and increasingly fought in cities and communities rather than distant battlefields. Homes, schools, hospitals, and shelters are being destroyed, and civilians are paying the price.   Today the world is experiencing the highest number of active conflicts since 1946. Last year, a UN report warned that 676 million women live within 50 kilometers of deadly conflict.   Imagine fleeing your home overnight as bombs and missiles fall, and basic services – like water or electricity – collapse around you. Since that report, even more conflicts have erupted.   Bombs do not discriminate between men and women, but the consequences of war do. This explainer examines why modern wars are becoming deadlier for women and girls, and how conflict deepens existing inequalities.   During conflict, women and girls are more likely to be displaced from their homes, pushed out of school or work, lose access to healthcare, and face sexual violence, trauma, hunger, and poverty.   As services collapse and families struggle to survive, women are expected to hold communities together by caring for children, the injured, and the elderly, often while navigating danger and trauma themselves.   Despite the essential role of women in ensuring that families and communities survive conflict, they are routinely excluded from political decision-making and peace negotiations.   Today’s conflicts are often fought in populated and residential areas rather than distant battlefields. Homes, hospitals, schools, and even designated shelters are being damaged or destroyed, placing civilians at greater risk of injury and death.   For many women and girls, there is nowhere safe to go. Some are killed while sheltering in their homes, others are injured fleeing attacks, searching for food, or trying to keep their families alive as essential services collapse around them.   Sexual violence against women and girls rises sharply during conflict. In wars around the world, rape and other forms of gender-based violence are used to terrorize civilians, punish communities, force displacement, and assert control.   In conflict-affected areas, a lack of accountability for these crimes continues to fuel cycles of violence and impunity. Fear and social stigma also prevent many women and girls from reporting violence and accessing support.   War tears through economies, livelihoods, and the systems that families rely on to survive. Women are often the first to lose paid work and last to recover because they are more likely to be in insecure or low-paid jobs and take on more unpaid care responsibilities during conflict.   As schools close, transport becomes unsafe, markets collapse and public services disappear, many women lose their income, but also access to systems that help them pursue paid work, education, and care for their families.   Conflict also makes it harder and more dangerous for women to move, work, and access markets.   Economic harm during war is not only about losing income. Women often lose assets, land, documentation, savings, social networks, and access to credit. Displacement can also force them into unsafe work, debt, and exploitation.   Across conflict zones, women are often expected to fill the gaps left behind by collapsing systems – caring for children, the sick, and the elderly while trying to keep families afloat under impossible conditions.   Despite the unequal and devastating impact of wars on women, they continue to be the backbone of survival and recovery in conflict-affected zones. From Ukraine to Gaza and Sudan – women and women-led organizations are feeding families, providing medical and psychosocial support, and leading economic recovery in their communities.   Yet, support for women’s organizations is shrinking as needs rise. A 2025 global report by UN Women showed that half of women-led and women’s rights organizations in humanitarian crisis zones were at risk of shutting down within six months due to funding cuts.   Worldwide, 119 million girls are out of school. In conflict-affected countries, girls are more than twice as likely to be out of school than girls living in non-affected countries. Girls struggle more than boys to access or continue their education when conflict disrupts infrastructure, safety, and reduces family income.   For far too long, history, media, and decision-makers have painted the picture that war is the same for everyone. But when inequality already shapes women’s lives in the absence of wars, conflict only deepens that divide.   http://www.unwomen.org/en/articles/faqs/how-war-impacts-women-and-girls-a-simple-explainer-on-gender-and-conflict   Apr. 2026   Mobilizing parliamentary leadership to protect women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health in times of crisis   The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH) at the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly:   At the 152nd Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly in Istanbul, Turkiye (15–19 April 2026), The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH) delivered a clear and urgent message to global parliamentary leaders: protecting the health and well-being of women, children and adolescents (WCAH), who are the bed rock of society and also the most vulnerable, is fundamental to peace, justice and sustainable development.   Without urgent action to uphold the rule of law, humanitarian principles and global solidarity, women, children and adolescents will continue to bear the greatest cost in these times of compounding crises.   Convened under the theme “Nurturing hope, securing peace and ensuring justice for future generations,” the Assembly brought together over 1,500 delegates, including more than 720 parliamentarians from 126 countries, alongside 65 Speakers and 46 Deputy Speakers of Parliament.   Through key resolutions, the Assembly called for urgent parliamentary action and partnerships to:   Sustain ceasefires and advance peacebuilding efforts in the Middle East and beyond, alongside clear condemnation of breaches of international humanitarian law.   Ensure post-conflict recovery is anchored in nationally led peacebuilding and reconciliation processes, with a particular focus on safeguarding the rights and needs of women, young people and displaced populations.   The Assembly concluded with the adoption of the Istanbul Declaration which reinforces a shared commitment to peace, human rights and the principles of the United Nations, while addressing pressing global challenges.   The symposium focused on the actions that parliamentarians must take to hold the line for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health (WCAH) issues in these challenging times.   Dr. Sezin Eda Karsli, a frontline health care worker, and Executive Committee Member, World Association of Trainees in Obstetrics & Gynecology, Turkiye highlighted the stark reality that even in the midst of crises, pregnancies and child birth continue unabated, and that women, children and adolescents are pushed to the margins losing access to essential services when they need them most, and that these services are often the last to be restored.   She underscored the importance of developing resilient healthcare systems supported by adequate finances that can provide continuous and timely care to avert preventable deaths in crises as well as the importance of supporting the health and well-being (including mental health) needs of health care professionals in times of crises.   The attendees agreed that the Parliamentary Network should drive change for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health (WCAH) by focusing on the following two priorities:   Scaling up domestic resource mobilization to support resilient health systems capable of delivering essential health services for women, children, and adolescents—including displaced populations—with continued access to sexual and reproductive health services, even in crisis settings.   Investing in the health and well-being of adolescent because their well-being today defines our collective future.   There was a strong consensus that:   Parliamentarians are central to the execution of country-led solutions in the face of global instability. The Parliamentary Network for WCAH is a critical space for dialogue, peer exchange, collaboration, and advancing accountability. Placing WCAH as integral to peace, prosperity and sustainable development for all.   Throughout the Assembly, The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health advocated to ensure that Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health was not treated as a sectoral issue but, rather, recognized as key to peacebuilding, social and economic resilience as well as sustainable development.   Through interventions including at the General Debate and Forum of Young Parliamentarians PMNCH called on parliamentarians to:   Protect essential health services and rights by ensuring that the health services that WCA require are guaranteed as enforceable rights through legislation which is aligned with international humanitarian and human rights law and international frameworks.   Reprioritize and protect sustainable financing for WCAH as a peace and stability investment and recognize WCAH not as a cost—but as a strategic investment in peace, resilience and human security - resulting in fewer maternal deaths, more girls in school, and overall, more resilient communities.   Strengthen inclusive accountability by ensuring that policies reflect lived realities by engaging communities, civil society and young people, and by tracking results across generations.   Advance inclusive governance as a foundation for peace, legitimacy and effective policymaking by accelerating progress toward gender parity and increasing youth representation in parliaments.   As crises deepen and resources tighten, parliamentary leadership will be decisive in protecting progress on WCAH. There can be no peace, justice or sustainable development without investing in the Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health.   * The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH) is the world's largest alliance for women's, children's and adolescents' health and well-being, with more than 1,400 partner organizations. PMNCH is hosted by the World Health Organization, based in Geneva.   http://pmnch.who.int/news-and-events/news/item/27-04-2026-mobilizing-parliamentary-leadership-to-protect-women-s-children-s-and-adolescents-health-in-times-of-crisis-pmnch-at-the-152nd-ipu-assembly http://pmnch.who.int/news-and-events/news   8 Apr. 2026   Gender-Blind Conflict Analysis in Middle East Crisis is failing Women and Girls. (UNFPA)   Six weeks into the 2026 Middle East military escalation, UNFPA Arab States Regional Office warns that its impact on 161 million women and girls living in conflict-affected areas across the region remain largely invisible in conflict analysis, humanitarian response, and funding priorities.   A new Call to Action, Regional Analysis of the Socio-Economic Impact of the 2026 Middle East Conflict on Women and Girls published by the UNFPA, the UN sexual and reproductive health agency, highlights that current response mechanisms remain overwhelmingly gender-blind, treating gender-based violence (GBV) and maternal health as secondary concerns rather than life-saving priorities.   “The omission is not merely analytical – it is structural,” the report states. Without sex-disaggregated data and gender perspectives, the international community is conducting incomplete risk assessments, misaligning interventions, and missing critical opportunities for stabilization and peace.   The conflict is projected to cost regional economies $120–194 billion – equivalent to 3.7 to 6 percent of collective GDP. Four million additional people are estimated to be pushed into poverty and 3.64 million jobs may be lost. Women – overrepresented in informal employment – face disproportionate livelihood collapse while shouldering increased unpaid care work.   Supply chain shocks through the Strait of Hormuz threaten to delay lifesaving humanitarian supplies by up to six months. Across Gaza, Lebanon, Sudan, and Yemen, more than 260 health facilities and 14 mobile medical units have already shut down. Food insecurity is intensifying, with documented patterns showing women and girls eat last and least.   The report also highlights a surge in GBV risks driven by hyper-displacement, while sanctions and financial “de-risking” are crippling the ability of women-led organizations to deliver essential services. These organizations—often the first responders in crises—are being cut off from the very funding streams meant to sustain them.   UNFPA is calling on national governments, UN agencies, donors, and civil society to:   Integrate gender systematically into all conflict analysis and response frameworks. Protect and fund GBV and sexual and reproductive health services as core, lifesaving interventions.   Finance and empower local women-led organizations, removing barriers to their access and participation. Ensure women’s leadership in recovery, peacebuilding, and decision-making processes.   “Making women and girls visible is not optional,” the report concludes. “It is fundamental to effective humanitarian action, sustainable recovery, and lasting peace.”   http://arabstates.unfpa.org/en/news/unfpa-warns-gender-blind-conflict-analysis-2entity26-middle-east-crisis-failing-women-and http://arabstates.unfpa.org/en/publications/regional-analysis-socio-economic-impact-2entity26-middle-east-conflict-women-and-girls   Dec. 2025   With maternity centres under attack, more women are at risk of dying in pregnancy and childbirth in Ukraine.   In a neonatal unit at Kyiv Hospital, Anton rests in a mobile incubator. He was born premature three days earlier, an occurrence that health workers say has become increasingly common.   “Many of the women coming here are under immense stress,” obstetrician Dr. Heintz told UNFPA, the UN sexual and reproductive health agency, which provides mobile incubators to the hospital. “The fear, the uncertainty, the travel – all of it contributes to complications in pregnancy.”   The violence, stress and displacement have had devastating consequences for pregnant women and newborns in Ukraine, with a 37 per cent rise in maternal death rates from 2023 to 2024, according to the latest data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners.   “We’ve seen a rise in premature births, and these babies depend on ventilators, on drugs that help them breathe, and on the staff who stay even during shelling,” added the doctor, himself displaced from his home in Donetsk.   Frequent electricity cuts, infrastructure damage and stock-outs of supplies and equipment mean many premature babies like Anton rely on humanitarian supplies and equipment from organizations like UNFPA.   “It’s the difference between life and death in some cases,” explained Dr. Heintz. “When the shelling starts, we just keep going on with our duties.”   Healthcare under attack   In early October 2025, a missile struck a UNFPA-supported maternity hospital in the city of Sumy, in northeast Ukraine. More than 160 pregnant women and new mothers, newborns and healthcare workers made it to a basement shelter just before impact.   And just last week, a maternity hospital in Kherson supported by UNFPA was damaged in an attack. Health workers and patients once again took shelter in the basement unit, which was constructed with UNFPA’s support.   The Kherson City Perinatal Centre is just 1.5 km from active front lines and remains under constant threat from artillery and drone attacks. Luckily, no one was injured – and a baby girl was even safely delivered underground.   Many hospitals have relocated delivery rooms to underground facilities, adjusting to terrifying conditions that few healthcare systems globally could withstand.   For health workers, these interventions are part of a daily reality that has redefined what it means to provide maternal care. The country’s doctors and midwives now operate in wards where electricity can fail at any moment, where air-raid sirens interrupt deliveries.   The attacks are part of a broader pattern of terror across Ukraine, where more than 80 maternity and neonatal care facilities have been damaged or destroyed since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022 – among over 2,500 healthcare sites hit nationwide.   War, stress and lack of access to medical services   Each new assault adds to a deepening national exhaustion. Mental health needs in Ukraine are soaring, with a recent survey revealing that almost 60 per cent of Ukrainians now experience anxiety and intense stress linked to the constant shelling, displacement and loss.   Experts have warned that millions of people are at risk of developing a mental health condition as a result of the war.   Doctors have also linked the chronic stress, displacement and frequent disruption of medical services to rising pregnancy complications, especially among women living in combat zones.   In Kherson, UNFPA estimates the number of preterm births to have reached 11.8 per cent – almost twice the national average – and the region also has the highest stillbirth rate in the country.   Many towns and villages in Kherson remain partially cut off from electricity, heating and medical care, making the currently high rates of Caesarean section deliveries even more perilous.   The latest report also states that the average rate of Caesarean section births across Ukraine stands at over 28 per cent – well above WHO’s recommended 10 to 15 per cent – with some of the highest levels near the front line, up to 46 per cent in Kherson.   UNFPA provides hospitals across Ukraine with essentials like mobile incubators, sterile neonatal equipment and life-saving medicines for premature newborns. Among these medicines are Curosurf and Peyona, which can be instrumental in helping premature babies breathe more easily at such a vulnerable stage of their lives.   UNFPA is also supporting the construction and refurbishment of underground maternity hospitals that allow women to give birth safely, even under bombardment. In the Kherson City Perinatal Centre, the underground ward registered a total of 118 deliveries underground in 2024, with 110 deliveries so far in 2025.   A similar facility is operating in Sumy and two additional centres are underway in Kharkiv, which are supported by the Government of Ireland.   Despite the harsh conditions, maternal health workers emphasize the need for stability and continuity of care. The ability to safely deliver children, they told UNFPA, is not just a medical necessity but a sign that community life can still exist amid the war.   * The 2026 humanitarian appeal released by UNFPA, calls for urgent funding to support women and girls caught up in some of the world’s worst crises. UNFPA’s 2026 Humanitarian Action plan aims to meet the needs of more than 34 million women, girls and young people in 42 countries: http://tinyurl.com/y86y7sz5   http://www.unfpa.org/news/maternity-centres-under-attack-more-women-are-risk-dying-pregnancy-and-childbirth-ukraine http://www.unfpa.org/emergencies http://www.unfpa.org/news http://www.savethechildren.net/news/about-8-million-babies-born-conflicts-and-climate-disasters-2025
	Women and girls are carrying the heaviest burden of the global water crisis by UNESCO, OHCHR, WaterAid, agencies   Mar. 2026   Women and girls are bearing the brunt of water shortages and a lack of sanitation around the world, hindering the economic and social development of poorer countries, the UN has warned.   Women are responsible for collecting water in more than 70% of rural households that do not have access to mains water across the developing world. Women and girls collectively spend 250m hours a day collecting water globally.   The climate crisis is exacerbating the problem, according to a new report from the UN. A 1C rise in temperature reduces incomes in female-headed households by 34% more than in male-headed ones, while also causing women’s weekly labour hours to increase by an average of 55 minutes relative to men’s.   The UN has called on countries to address the imbalance, which is leading to poorer health and worse educational prospects for women, while also affecting food security.   Khaled El-Enany, the director general of Unesco, said: “Ensuring women’s participation in water management and governance is a key driver for progress and sustainable development. We must step up efforts to safeguard women and girls’ access to water. When women have equal access to water, everyone benefits.”   The World Water Development report found that data on women and girls was hard to come by, as many countries and international institutions do not collect statistics broken down by sex.   But the authors said it was clear women have been severely disadvantaged in access to water for health, cooking, sanitation and agriculture, and that countries were moving too slowly to address the issues.   Alvaro Lario, the president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, and the chair of UN-Water, which produced the report with Unesco, said: “We need women and men to manage water side by side as a common good that benefits the whole of society.”   Poor sanitation disproportionately affects women, with an estimated 10 million adolescent girls in 40 lower-income countries surveyed in one study missing school, work or social activities as a result of lack of toilets between 2016 and 2022.   In 2024, the latest year for which data is available, more than 2.1 billion people lacked safely managed drinking water and 3.4 billion lacked safely managed sanitation.   Women are also under-represented in decisions made over water rights relating to agricultural land, which are often linked to property rights. Women are discriminated against in land tenure rights in many countries, with men taking ownership of twice the amount of land.   Fewer than one in five people who work in water utilities are women, a separate survey of 28 developing countries found.   Helen Hamilton, the head of public health policy at the charity WaterAid, said poor access to water and sanitation in clinics meant women were dying unnecessarily in childbirth, and women were being exposed to gender-based violence when having to walk long distances to collect water.   “Today’s report lays bare a stark injustice: women and girls are carrying the heaviest burden of the global water crisis,” she said. “Clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene are not luxuries: they are the foundation of health, education and economic opportunity.”   When the problems facing women are recognised, whole communities can benefit, according to the World Vision charity.   The organisation drilled a well in Rumate, in rural Kenya, where women used to have to walk up to four hours a day to collect water. Women helped drill the well and build the road, and have formed savings groups, established a water committee and started small businesses.   Their children are healthier – no longer suffering from malnutrition linked to unsafe water – and mothers are able to spend more time with them.   Parvin Ngala, the global director for water at World Vision, said: “Harmful social norms often fail to value the time and effort women invest in securing water and exclude them from decision-making. The economic consequences are real: women’s opportunities to earn an income are almost impossible.”   Mar. 2026   Where water doesn’t flow, equality doesn’t grow – challenging global patriarchy this World Water Day, by Lyla Mehta, Alan Nicol. (IDS)   The 2026 campaign on World Water Day’s focuses on Water and Gender – ‘where water flows, equality grows’. While some progress has been achieved across a range of gender indicators spanning education, health and public participation, the situation around WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) is still marked by deep inequalities with women and girls disproportionately affected – and this reflects the persistence of global patriarchy.   More than 2 billion people still lack access to safely managed drinking water. In households without piped water, women and girls are made to be responsible for about 70–80 per cent of water collection trips worldwide, taking anything from 30 minutes to four hours daily. This time can instead usefully be spent on education, productive activities or even leisure and rest, but they don’t have the choice.   The situation is even more dire for sanitation with 3.4 billion people lacking access to safely managed sanitation. All this affects women’s and girl’s dignity, safety, security and the privacy and comfort needed for dignified menstrual health management. At the same time, there is poor progress on women’s economic participation.   These patterns have remained remarkably persistent despite improvements in water and sanitation infrastructure. The sheer time and labour required for poor women and girls around WASH activities, combined with gendered inequalities and power imbalances under the persistence of patriarchy not only directly affect girls’ enrolment in education but inevitably diminishes their capacity for productive economic activity, the net impact of which worldwide is a huge dent in human development progress.   Not only that, but the apparent normalisation of wars and genocides wrought largely by men means almost daily violations of international humanitarian law including the weaponisation of water and sanitation infrastructure as a target of attack. Most recently, the United States’ bombing of a freshwater desalinsation plant in Iran and retaliation by Iran on another desalination plant in Bahrain set a dangerous new precedent.   When water and sanitation infrastructure become fair game in war, as we’ve seen in Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine in the last few years, existing gender inequalities around water and sanitation mean women and girls suffer most, compounding risks including sexual violence.   What we’re seeing real-time and online is something even more worrying. That is the resurgence of more explicit patriarchy desiring control over women’s lives and subjugation into traditional roles away from public life. From the slashing of Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programmes to the rollback of reproductive rights across the world from the USA to Chile, the resurgence of ‘toxic masculinity’ is forcing gender rights, feminism and equality off the agenda and they are equated with pejorative notions of ‘wokeism.’   Some institutions are already reframing debates in response. For instance, the World Bank is increasingly framing gender as about economic activity and jobs, rather than about rights. This is reflected in their new Water Mission implementation strategy that refers to employment but only mentions gender six times and women four times even though the gross inequalities in labour power and economic effects are, as stated above, so vast.   The gender backlash and reductionism in rights framings helps reinforce stereotypes and accepted norms, including the gendered division of labour in water collection, rather than confronting this more forcefully – and, at a minimum, asking why this is the case rather than accepted as a given.   If views persist that women and girls are responsible for water-related subsistence tasks, it ignores specific needs around sanitation and menstrual hygiene and increases male domination in decision-making and water management. Which is precisely what patriarchy seeking to achieve – domination and subjugation.   A year ago, Prime Minister Keir Starmer cut the UK aid budget by about 40 per cent. These cuts have been devastating for water and sanitation progress in some of the world’s poorest and most war-torn countries with direct and lasting consequences for women and girls. The cuts particularly impact countries like Sudan, Ethiopia and Palestine, already reeling from largely male-driven wars, conflicts and genocide.   It is estimated that around 12 million people will be denied access to clean water and sanitation as a result. These cuts directly affect gender equality because reduced access to water and sanitation impacts schooling, being at work and increases the risk of gender-based violence.   The UK justifies the cuts as a way to move away from direct aid around WASH to strengthening capabilities and partnerships. But these partnerships between the UK and Global South countries such as Nigeria focusing on growth, jobs and reducing aid dependency can backfire as more and more people’s health deteriorate, including more women suffering from ill health and long-term illnesses.   Ultimately, a waning collective effort to support gender equality in WASH provision opens the door to long-term decline in gender rights and economic development. Additionally, the dismantling of USAID is already having devastating consequences for gender equality and women’s health. Just when greater focus is needed on WASH projects to ensure we are not backsliding on gender rights, aid is being cut.   In sum, persistent inequalities, the gender backlash, illegal and forever wars and aid cuts lacking a moral compass have diluted global collective action on gender inequality. The least policymakers could do would be to achieve and maintain leadership that realises human rights for all in WASH provision, a substantial rationale for which has to be a big- ticket focus on the social and economic empowerment of women and girls. Any other direction would be disastrous, enabling patriarchy and misogyny to grow even deeper roots in global society.   http://www.ids.ac.uk/opinions/where-water-doesnt-flow-equality-doesnt-grow-challenging-global-patriarchy-this-world-water-day/ http://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000397505 http://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/water/statements/worldwaterday-22m-2026-stm.docx http://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-water-and-sanitation/annual-reports http://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2026/04/environmental-degradation-leaves-billions-without-life-sustaining-water-and http://www.unwater.org/publications/un-water-policy-brief-towards-human-rights-based-approach-water-sanitation http://washmatters.wateraid.org/publications/born-without-water http://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/mar/19/women-and-girls-bearing-brunt-of-water-shortages-globally-un-warns http://www.ipsnews.net/2026/03/80-percent-of-rural-households-without-direct-water-access-world-water-report/ http://reliefweb.int/report/world/when-political-will-becomes-missing-piece-effective-climate-action Visit the related web page
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