WOMEN and girls displaced by military conflict are facing the worst impacts of wars that they did not start, the executive director of the United Nations Population Fund has said.

Natalia Kanem told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York  on Tuesday that the conflicts taking place in Gaza and Sudan “show how fragile peace is.

“Hostilities leave devastating consequences for the most vulnerable, particularly women of all ages,” she said.

“Everywhere in the world, we see women and girls forced to face the worst of wars. And what they need is peace, peace in their homes and communities.

Ms Kanem cited Chad in central Africa as an example of what happens when people are displaced.

“Despite being one of the poorest countries in the world, Chad now hosts more than a million refugees, including around half a million who recently fled the conflict in Sudan over the past six months, the majority women and children,” she said.

Ms Kanem added that many women are victims of gender-based violence in the countries they fled from or in the camps where they now live.

A report from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), published in the run-up to this year’s UN Human Rights Day on December 10, points out how armed conflict can result in higher levels of gender-based violence against women and girls.

The OHCHR says that women and girls are increasingly targeted for “arbitrary killings, torture, sexual violence and forced marriage as a tactic of war.”

According to the UN agency, physical abuse of females also spikes in post-conflict societies “due to the general breakdown of the rule of law, the availability of small arms, the breakdown of social and family structures and the ‘normalisation’ of gender-based violence as an additional element of pre-existing discrimination.”

UN Women said that, following the outbreak of the conflict in Gaza, it has worked to analyse its differentiated impact on women, men, boys and girls to ensure adequate responses to their needs.

Deputy executive director Sarah Hendriks said: “It is imperative that we ensure immediate access to services for women and girls and ensure the prevention of gender-based violence.

“As the international community seeks to respond to this crisis, we must also wholeheartedly support and invest in women-led organisations, which are at the front line of the humanitarian response, and promote the meaningful participation of women in humanitarian and political processes.”