In this interview with Femena, Ghewa Nasr, a Lebanese feminist activist and women human rights defender, reflects on the devastating humanitarian, political, and protection crisis unfolding in Beirut amid ongoing Israeli bombardment and mass displacement across Lebanon. She describes a catastrophic reality in which over one million people have been forcibly displaced, while limited state resources and shelter systems leave hundreds of thousands without adequate support, housing, or basic services.
Ghewa highlights the disproportionate impact of the crisis on women and marginalized communities, including increased economic hardship, lack of privacy and safety in overcrowded displacement settings, rising gender-based violence, and restricted access to essential health and hygiene services. She also sheds light on the compounded challenges facing refugee populations, particularly Syrian and Palestinian communities, who are often excluded from aid and protection mechanisms.
Through her work with grassroots feminist initiatives, Ghewa illustrates how women-led organizations are responding on the frontlines—providing food assistance, winterization support, menstrual health supplies, psychosocial care, and protection services, despite severe funding shortages and burnout among activists. She emphasizes that feminist groups, though not originally designed for humanitarian response, have become the backbone of crisis support in Lebanon.
She concludes with urgent calls for stronger regional and international feminist solidarity, direct and flexible funding for local initiatives, and the meaningful inclusion of feminist organizations in humanitarian leadership and decision-making. At the heart of her message is a clear demand: sustained support, protection, and dignity for all communities affected by war and displacement.