Hidden Hunger: The Gendered Impacts of Food Security and Malnutrition on Women and Girls in the West Bank
Publisher: UN Women and West Bank Gender in Humanitarian Action Working Group
Date: 2026
Topics: Gender, Humanitarian Assistance, Livelihoods
Countries: West Bank
The West Bank Gender in Humanitarian Action (GiHA) Working Group produced this Gender Matters Bulletin: Hidden Hunger to highlight the gender-specific impacts of the ongoing humanitarian crisis on the food security and nutrition of women and girls. It serves as an accompaniment to the West Bank Food Security and Nutrition Cluster Needs Assessment Report (August 2025). The assessment found that the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation, particularly in the northern West Bank including Jenin, Nablus, Tubas and Tulkarm, is disproportionately affecting women and women-headed households, shaping their specific needs, exposure to risks, lived experiences, and coping strategies. In response to income and livelihood losses, women, especially women-headed households are more likely than men and men-headed households to adopt stress- or crisis-level coping strategies including spending less and relying more heavily on support from community networks and reducing meal frequency or portion sizes and relying on less preferred or lower-cost foods. Women and girls face heightened protection risks, including gender-based violence, and encounter multiple barriers when accessing markets and humanitarian food assistance, including insecurity, movement restrictions, and transport unavailability and unaffordability. Conflict and displacement are reshaping household gender dynamics, decision-making, and roles and responsibilities, particularly in households newly headed by women following the arrest, detention, or death of male heads of households. Women and women-headed households are also less likely than men and men-headed households to be aware of available assistance and complaints and feedback mechanisms. This bulletin highlights that, while women and girls shoulder a disproportionate share of the burdens of food insecurity, they are also central agents of resilience, leading local coping strategies and sustaining community support networks.