Side event in the margins of the 69th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women
Testimonies from Gaza
Side event in the margins of the 69th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women
Alt. Parallel events at the to the 69th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women
Moderated panel debate followed by Q&A session with audience
March 2025
(Venue TBC), New York, USA
The war in Gaza has brought incomprehensible suffering, destruction and death to the population.
Journalists are being killed at an unprecedented rate in Israel’s war on Gaza. When a Gazan journalist dies, there is no one to replace them. There is no way of knowing how long the journalists – that are not killed by Israeli occupation forces – will physically, emotionally and practically be able to continue their reporting from inside Gaza. In the midst of this reality, the gendered aspects of war reporting is exacerbated for women journalists. Women journalists are walking a taxing tightrope between work, family and safety in a conservative society. Reporters are losing partners, children, parents, friends, colleagues. They are trying to do their work and protect their families at the same time. They are traumatised, displaced, homeless and tired. In combination with the systematic destruction of media outlets, restrictions on social media and ban on foreign reporters entering Gaza, there is a real threat that Gaza will transform into a news desert and the documentation of atrocities and violations will be lost.
The event Testimonies from Gaza at the margins of or in parallel to the 69th Session on the Status of Women will bridge the voices of Palestinian women journalists to the UN. The event will address questions such as the experience of being a woman journalist in Gaza, what coping mechanisms and survival strategies do they apply, what have they witnessed during their work, and how can their testimonies be documented and archived for future justice and reparation processes?
The format for the event will be a moderated debate with women journalists active in Gaza and/or the wider region. The panelists will describe the challenges they face, but also share their methods for resisting and surviving, and deliver their demands for support from the international community.
The target group of the planned panel debate is representatives of governments, international organizations and civil society.
The specific objectives are:
- Create and raise awareness of the dire situation of women in Gaza (alternatively the whole region) in general and of women journalists in particular;
- Explore the role of journalists in documenting human rights violations and atrocities for future justice and reparation processes;
- Call on the international community to ensure protection for journalists and ensure that there will be no impunity for the killings of journalists, stop the destruction of communication infrastructures and ensure access to Gaza for journalists.
