Q+A with USA for UNFPA Executive Director on supporting women and girls in Gaza

Women, girls, and people who menstruate are always disproportionately impacted by violence. We spoke with the Executive Director, Anu Surendran, of USA for UNFPA, an organization that PERIOD. supports, to better understand the current conditions for people who menstruate in Gaza, menstrual injustice, and the role of the global menstrual movement in supporting Palestinians in Gaza.

PERIOD. is grateful for the continued work of emergency relief organizations, like UNFPA (the United Nations sexual and reproductive health and rights agency), which work on the ground to alleviate period poverty in humanitarian crises.

I. What is the mission and history of UNFPA?

Founded in 1969, UNFPA is the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. Today, UNFPA works in more than 150 countries to create a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe, and every woman and girl can reach her fullest potential.

USA FOR UNFPA is a US-based nonprofit that supports UNFPA’s lifesaving work by raising awareness and funds in the United States.

II. Where does UNFPA currently work, and where are you most active now?

We provide sexual and reproductive health services in 150 countries around the world and are the world’s largest provider of contraceptives. We provide care in the world’s most dire humanitarian emergencies, and, in the case of Afghanistan and Yemen, UNFPA is the only organization with the expertise, infrastructure, and access to deliver lifesaving sexual and reproductive health care. Our top humanitarian response priorities are Afghanistan, Sudan, Yemen, Syria, Gaza, and Ukraine.

We do not provide services in the United States or other countries with developed healthcare systems.

III. One of the most acute needs for women and girls is happening now in Gaza. How does UNFPA work in Gaza, and what have been the specific successes and challenges there?

We have been on the ground in Gaza and the West Bank since 1986, providing maternal health services, family planning counseling and resources, safe spaces and legal aid for survivors of violence, menstrual products, breast and ovarian cancer screenings and treatment, and more.

Today, our most significant concern is to reach women and girls in Gaza with the care they need to survive. We are especially concerned for the 50,000 pregnant women and new mothers in Gaza who are surviving increasingly dangerous conditions.

UNFPA deeply regrets the end of the humanitarian pause in Gaza. We condemn the violence in Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank, including all sexual violence against women, and echo the UN Secretary-General’s call for a sustained humanitarian ceasefire and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages by Hamas.

Our greatest challenge has been delivering services and humanitarian aid in Gaza.

Shortages of food and water have left pregnant women dehydrated and malnourished, making them much more vulnerable to life-threatening complications. Healthcare facilities are under attack, and care is often inaccessible. However, those who do make it to a clinic for childbirth complications face undergoing c-sections — a major surgery — without anesthesia. As the violence continues and shortages of necessary medicines and supplies deepen, women’s and girls’ lives will be on the line.

But despite the extreme challenges our teams are facing, we have had success: we have supported more than half of the 21,000 births that have taken place in Gaza in the past 5 months, both through our health care providers on the ground and through the distribution of essential supplies and medicines. We source these supplies locally through our partners in Jordan and Egypt.

We have delivered 19,000 UNFPA Dignity Kits, which contain personal care items like underwear, detergent, a toothbrush, and menstrual products so women and girls can manage their periods and live with dignity, even during conflict.

IV. As a menstrual equity organization, PERIOD. is often asked how people can support period products in Gaza. Because we are not an emergency response organization, we want to hear from you about how people in the menstrual movement can support this work. What is the best way?

Every second counts during an emergency — and the best way to be there for women and girls is to support organizations like UNFPA that already have programs, networks, and supplies in the region.

Right now, over 690,000 women and girls in Gaza have no access to menstrual products or hygiene items like toilet paper and have inadequate access to water, showers, toilets, and privacy. This puts them at risk of infections and violence. Women are resorting to using birth control pills to stop their menstrual flow, or, if they have access to them, some use diapers.

You can help by donating any amount to USA FOR UNFPA. A gift of just $15 could provide one woman or girl with a Dignity Kit and give her the items she needs to manage her period. Your support will also enable us to expedite supplies from our warehouses to the frontlines, increase the presence of our midwives and staff on the ground, and work with our suppliers to produce materials to meet the ever-growing need.

You can also help by raising awareness of our work in Gaza on social media @usaforunfpa or by starting your own fundraiser for women and girls at www.usaforunfpa.org/fundraise

V. What else would you like us to know about your emergency response work, ongoing refugee work, or current programming?

Our humanitarian response work is critical to achieving our goal of a world where women and girls thrive.

Women and girls are among the most vulnerable in emergencies. When food is short, women and girls eat last and least. When instability soars, so too does domestic violence and child marriage. And, during emergencies, women and girls continue to become pregnant, give birth, and get their periods — too often without the care they need to be safe, healthy, or to live with dignity.

Your support today can make a difference and provide essential period products and care to women and girls in Gaza and wherever aid is needed most.