International Women’s Day is often marked by celebrations—panels highlighting women’s achievements, campaigns showcasing progress, and corporate statements pledging support for gender equality. But for millions of women around the world, this is not a day of celebration. For women living under armed conflict, occupation, and authoritarian rule, their hard-won rights are not advancing; they are being stripped away. Their voices are not being amplified; they are being silenced.

In Palestine, Sudan, as well as other countries in the Arab States region, women are enduring unimaginable suffering, their lives shattered by conflict. Millions have been forced to flee their homes; many are left without the basics to survive: food, water, shelter, and health care. Hundreds of thousands are subjected to gender-based violence, as women’s bodies become collateral damage of wars.

These women do not need symbolic gestures or empty promises. They need action.