<\/p>\n
8 March 2026<\/p>\n
Salma stands on uneven ground in front of an emergency tent in the Gaza Strip. Inside, displaced women and girls sit around tables covered with fabric, thread and needles. The tent now serves as a temporary embroidery training space after the war crushed homes and community centres across the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n
Salma is deaf. As the 40-year-old tells her story, her hands move quickly through sign language while another woman interprets beside her.<\/p>\n
Before the war, Salma had already endured the loss of her husband in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this, life with her three children was stable. She worked as teacher at a school for persons with disabilities. \u201cI was happy and comfortable,\u201d she signs. \u201cI had a home. We had food and water.\u201d That life was shattered when the war began in October 2023, displacing her family and destroying their livelihood.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy children and I were living in a tent,\u201d she explains. \u201cThey were distressed and crying. For a moment, I thought about begging for help,\u201d she signs. Instead, Salma reached out to ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA.<\/p>\n
The Agency helped her family cope with trauma and regain a sense of stability. \u201cI approached the social worker in ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA, and they supported me with psychosocial counselling.\u201d Later, through a women\u2019s empowerment initiative, Salma joined a vocational training programme in handicrafts and embroidery at a local women\u2019s centre in an ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA emergency shelter.<\/p>\n
From the beginning, her determination stood out. She learned quickly and began supporting other trainees, often helping explain techniques through sign language and encouraging women who were struggling to continue.<\/p>\n
Recognising her commitment and natural leadership, the centre appointed Salma as an assistant trainer. What began as a training opportunity soon became a role through which she could guide and support other women navigating the same uncertainty brought by war.<\/p>\n
\u201cI worked hard and succeeded in the training,\u201d she shares with pride. \u201cToday I am the one training women and girls.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her leadership continued to grow when she was nominated to serve on the centre\u2019s community committee. In this role, Salma helps represent the concerns of the women attending the programme and often acts as a bridge between participants and staff. She shares the struggles of women carrying enormous burdens: coping with bereavement, displacement and rebuilding. For women like her who cannot hear, these challenges can be even greater.<\/p>\n
Today, Salma stands outside the same emergency tent where women gather to learn embroidery, no longer as a trainee, but as a trainer helping other women and girls develop their skills and confidence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
8 March 2026 Salma stands on uneven ground in front of an emergency tent in the Gaza Strip. Inside, displaced women and girls sit around tables covered with fabric, thread and needles. The tent now serves as a temporary embroidery training space after the war crushed homes and community centres across the Gaza Strip. […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":299,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[],"document-category":[6926],"document-source":[1817],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[1945,6636,2005,1745,1841],"entity":[1729],"document-language":[6542],"class_list":["post-316029","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","document-category-stories","document-source-united-nations-relief-and-works-agency-for-palestine-refugees-in-the-near-east-unrwa","document-subject-assistance","document-subject-disabilities","document-subject-gaza-strip","document-subject-refugees-and-displaced-persons","document-subject-women","entity-united-nations-system","document-language-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/316029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/299"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/316029\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":316030,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/316029\/revisions\/316030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=316029"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=316029"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=316029"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=316029"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=316029"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=316029"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=316029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}