On this International Women’s Day, the International Federation for Rights and Development (IFRD) stands in solidarity with women across the world who continue to bear the heaviest burden of war, displacement, and violence. Nowhere is this more evident than in Sudan, the Gaza Strip, and Lebanon, where women are paying the highest price for conflicts they did not start.
In Sudan, the ongoing war has created one of the most severe humanitarian and protection crises for women and girls. Reports of widespread gender-based violence, including sexual violence used as a weapon of war, continue to emerge from areas affected by the fighting. Women have been displaced from their homes, separated from their families, and left without access to basic protection, healthcare, or justice.
In Gaza and Lebanon, women are likewise enduring the devastating human cost of war. Mothers, daughters, and caregivers are struggling to protect their families under bombardment, displacement, and collapsing infrastructure. The destruction of homes, hospitals, and basic services has forced women into impossible conditions where survival itself becomes a daily struggle.
Women are not only victims of war—they are also pillars of resilience. Across these conflicts, women continue to sustain communities, care for the injured, protect children, and document atrocities despite unimaginable hardship.
On this International Women’s Day, IFRD calls on the international community to:
• Ensure accountability for gender-based violence committed in conflict zones.
• Strengthen protection mechanisms for women and girls in war-affected areas.
• Guarantee humanitarian access and support services for survivors of violence.
• Include women meaningfully in peacebuilding and post-conflict reconstruction efforts.
“Women should never be the battlefield on which wars are fought. Yet in Sudan, Gaza, and Lebanon, women continue to carry the deepest scars of conflicts driven by political and military interests. Protecting women in war is not optional—it is a legal and moral obligation.”
On this day, IFRD honors the courage and resilience of women who continue to stand, survive, and lead despite the violence surrounding them. Their dignity and strength remind the world that justice and peace must remain the ultimate goals of the international community.
