In the West Bank, three generations of Palestinian women share a common story of unrelenting hardship, shaped by decades of war and displacement. UN Women recently spoke to Wafeeka, Kafa, and Jwan – three women profoundly affected by ongoing conflicts.

Huthayfa Shbair, 26, is a Palestinian lawyer whose upbringing instilled in him great respect for the legal profession. Huthayfa was drawn to defend human rights and fight injustice. However, his path to becoming a human rights defender was not without its challenges. Growing up in a culture that frowned upon interactions with women had limited his exposure to gender-related issues.

After living most of her life in Dubai, 43-year-old Natalie Abushahla moved to Gaza in 2003. She and her husband decided to build a life in their hometown where she has worked for many international organizations including the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United States Agency for Cooperation and Development (USAID). Natalie has two daughters, aged six and ten years old, and a two-year-old son.

In a Bedouin community in the Jordan Valley, 16-year-old Firyal lives without reliable access to health or education and her family must bring in water to their hamlet by tractor and cistern.  Her community, which was declared a military zone by Israel, suffers from frequent displacement due to training exercises and nearby explosions that disturb livestock and threaten their livelihood, and now Firyal is planning to document their lives through a film. “It is harder to...