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Nidaa, Hanaa and Hanin have different stories, but share a common determination to build livelihoods and support their families despite the immense challenges facing people in war-ravaged Gaza.
After nearly three years of conflict, Gaza’s productive capacity has been severely damaged, markets have been disrupted and the prices of basic goods have risen sharply. Against this backdrop, women are struggling to preserve existing businesses, restart lost enterprises and acquire new skills to create income opportunities.
For many, running a business means navigating shortages of essential supplies, damaged infrastructure, repeated displacement and uncertainty over the future. Yet women across Gaza continue to adapt, learn and find ways to support their families.
Nidaa, 35, runs a business raising and selling chickens, ducks and rabbits in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Her interest in animal rearing began in childhood, inspired by her mother, who taught her the skills needed to care for animals.
“I was passionate about this business since I was a child,” she said. “My mother worked with animals, and she taught me everything she knew. During the war, I faced many challenges with continuing my business. However, I insisted on continuing.”
Although trained as a teacher, Nidaa chose to turn her passion for animal rearing into a livelihood. The business helps support her family, including two brothers with disabilities.
When her home was destroyed during the war and she was displaced, she managed to save some of her animals and move them to Khan Younis. However, continuing the business has remained difficult.
“Especially during the time of famine, I lost many animals,” she recalled. “Food became very expensive.”
As winter approaches, she faces further challenges, including finding adequate shelter for her animals, securing safe water and obtaining sufficient feed.
“I don’t know how I will take care of them without a proper shelter,” she said.
Through a partnership between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the local Chamber of Commerce, Nidaa received a grant to purchase animals and equipment, along with training to improve her production skills.
She hopes to expand her business and inspire other women to pursue animal rearing as a source of income.
“I hope that my business will grow,” she said, “and I can inspire other women to work with animals.”
For Hanaa, 49, rebuilding a business has meant trying to recover from profound personal loss.
She and her husband established a family dairy business in Gaza City in 2021. During the war, she lost her husband, one of her sons and the business itself. She was left to support her three surviving children while also caring for five children who had lost both parents.
Encouraged by her eldest son, Fouad, Hanaa decided to restart the business despite limited resources and severe shortages of milk and other raw materials.
“Sometimes, the people who need us are the reason we find the strength to keep going,” she said, describing her determination to remain resilient despite the challenges.
The destruction of Gaza’s electricity system has made dairy production particularly difficult. Power interruptions can cause products to spoil, resulting in financial losses for businesses already struggling with shortages and rising costs.
With grant support, Hanaa has resumed producing cheese, milk, labneh and laban. She hopes to expand the operation into a larger production facility and establish a more stable source of income for her family.
While Nidaa and Hanaa are working to rebuild existing businesses, Hanin, 36, is pursuing a different route towards economic independence by learning carpentry.
Originally from southern Khan Younis, she travels to Deir al-Balah to complete 80 hours of vocational training, followed by courses in entrepreneurship and business planning.
“This is something unique, especially for women,” Hanin said. “It’s needed now more than ever, because there are limited sources of wood for furniture, and many people lost their furniture during the war.”
The training programme will provide skills development to more than 200 trainees in fields including carpentry, textiles, recycling, compost production, data science, graphic design and digital marketing.
For Hanin, the training offers more than a new skill. It provides a potential pathway to earning an income and establishing a business of her own in a place where employment opportunities and access to resources remain severely constrained.
The experiences of the three women highlight the importance of financial assistance and skills development in helping people preserve or rebuild their livelihoods. However, sustaining and expanding businesses also depends on the wider conditions in which they operate.
Reliable electricity and water supplies, functioning markets, and access to equipment and raw materials are essential for businesses to recover and grow.
Supporting women-led enterprises is therefore about more than helping individual families earn an income. According to UNDP, such initiatives can also help preserve local productive capacity, sustain economic activity and strengthen the foundations for community-led recovery in Palestinian areas.
Nearly two million Palestinians have experienced repeated displacement since the war began. Amid the continuing crisis, UNDP has been supporting efforts to restore livelihoods and help communities recover.
Since October 2023, the agency has supported 6,000 emergency employment opportunities.
Nidaa and Hanaa are among 30 women receiving business support under UNDP’s Gaza Neighbourhood Approach initiative, which combines shelter, essential services and livelihood opportunities to help communities regain some of the basic conditions needed to function.
Through its Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People, UNDP also supports micro, small and medium-sized enterprises with grants, equipment and skills development.
Meanwhile, the REVIVE housing project has already helped build homes for displaced Palestinians.
For women such as Nidaa, Hanaa and Hanin, these efforts offer opportunities to rebuild livelihoods and move towards greater financial stability. Their experiences also demonstrate how access to resources, practical training and business support can help people preserve their livelihoods and create new opportunities even amid prolonged conflict. Souce: UN News
