Care, Connection and Hope: Pink October in Palestine 

This Breast Cancer Awareness Month, women like Marwa were at the heart of activities organized by our teams in the West Bank and Gaza. Together with medical professionals and local partners, they created spaces where women could ask questions, receive health checks and find support in one another. 

Amid war, restrictions on movement and limited resources, women’s health needs to continue. So does their right to care. 

Making Space for Women’s Health 

In the West Bank, despite restrictions on movement and resources, our Stronger Women, Stronger Nations program this year has reached 300 women, providing opportunities to learn, build connections and strengthen their confidence. 

For Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the team brought more than 300 program participants together for an event dedicated to their health and wellbeing. Medical stations offered general health checks, while a doctor led a detailed session on breast cancer, explaining signs to look out for, demonstrating breast self examination and providing guidance on seeking medical advice. 

The event gave women time and space to raise their concerns and ask questions directly. It was also an opportunity to hear from someone whose experience brought the importance of seeking care closer to home. 

Marwa’s message: do not let fear keep you from seeking care 

“I was one of those people who never expected to have it,” Marwa recalls. 

Her cancer was detected early. She remembers her doctors reassuring her that coming forward for tests had been an important step in her treatment journey. Now, she wants other women to take their own health seriously, even when they believe breast cancer could never happen to them. 

Treatment interrupted her participation in the program. The chemotherapy tablets she was taking left her exhausted, making it difficult to leave the house. But she missed the sessions and the friendships she had begun to build. 

Although she had attended for only around two months before pausing, Marwa says the program had already helped strengthen her confidence, lift her spirits and support her emotional wellbeing. 

Returning meant reconnecting with women and activities she enjoyed. Seeing friends, going out and taking part in community life remain important sources of comfort alongside her treatment. 

At the awareness event, Marwa shared her experience to help other women feel less afraid. She particularly valued the opportunity for participants to put their questions to the doctor and receive clear information. 

Her advocacy grows from her own experience: the uncertainty of a diagnosis, the demands of treatment and the reassurance of having people beside her. 

“The most important thing is hope,” she says. 

Bringing Care into Gaza’s learning Tents 

In Gaza, our partner Wefaq worked with a professional medical team to bring breast cancer awareness activities into the learning tents. 

There, women received health checks and guidance on breast self examination. They could ask questions on their minds, discuss concerns, and receive information directly from medical professionals. 

Like the event in the West Bank, the sessions were welcoming and participatory, encouraging women to speak openly and take an active role in conversations about their health. 

In circumstances where so much of daily life is shaped by insecurity and urgent needs, these spaces affirm that women’s health deserves attention, too. 

Health is a Right, Even in Crisis 

Awareness matters. It must be accompanied by access to medical advice, diagnosis, medication and treatment. Women also need solidarity: people who listen, communities that support them and services that remain within reach. 

Across the West Bank and Gaza, these activities brought women together around concerns that can be difficult to voice and experiences that can feel isolating. 

Breast cancer knows no borders. Every woman deserves the chance to seek care, receive treatment and face her illness with support and dignity.