To: Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of UNFPA
Subject: Urgent call to suspend UNFPA’s partnership with Israel amid Genocide in Gaza

Dear Dr. Kanem,

We, the undersigned women’s and human rights organizations, write to express grave concern over UNFPA’s recent Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Israel. While framed as a cooperation for advancing reproductive health and gender equality, this decision starkly contradicts the realities unfolding in Gaza, where Israeli military operations have resulted in unparalleled violence against civilians, including pregnant women, newborns, and health workers.

Since October 2023, Israel’s campaign in Gaza has caused the deaths of over 53,000 Palestinians, including a devastating number of women and children. The UN Secretary-General António Guterres has described this level of destruction as “unprecedented” during his tenure and warned that Gaza’s population faces “the risk of famine” and “what may be the cruelest phase of this cruel conflict.”

According to the UN Human Rights Council and multiple UN-appointed experts, Israel’s conduct may amount to genocide, including “deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction” and “measures intended to prevent births.” Women have given birth under rubble, in darkness, and without anesthesia, while entire medical systems have collapsed. Hospitals, maternity wards, and neonatal ICUs have been deliberately targeted or rendered inoperable by the blockade- a “reprocide” as well!

Meanwhile, UNFPA’s field teams rightly continue to raise urgent appeals for resources to assist Gaza’s women and newborns. In this context, UNFPA Global’s partnership with the Israeli government risks being perceived as a form of “pinkwashing” – using women’s rights language to deflect attention from violations that UN bodies themselves have condemned.

This partnership is not only politically and ethically questionable; it sends a message of dangerous double standards within the UN system. While one part of UNFPA pleads for emergency funding to save women from the consequences of Israeli actions, another shakes hands with that very government on a public stage. The optics and implications are indefensible.

We therefore urge UNFPA to:

Immediately suspend its cooperation agreement with Israel, including all planned activities under the MOU, until there is verified compliance with international humanitarian law and a cessation of hostilities in Gaza.
Publicly condemn the attacks on hospitals and women’s health infrastructure in Gaza, as well as the deprivation of access to safe childbirth and reproductive care.
Reaffirm UNFPA’s impartiality and commitment to human rights by ensuring that its partnerships do not undermine the UN’s credibility or support state-led violations.
Prioritize the voices and needs of Palestinian women, directing global attention and funding toward those suffering most under militia attack, siege, displacement, and trauma.
We hope you will take this letter with the gravity with which it is written. The credibility of UNFPA and the UN, as well as the lives of countless women and children, hang in the balance. We trust that UNFPA will ultimately choose to stand on the right side of history; the side of human rights, justice, and peace by refusing to “pinkwash” war crimes and by championing the cause of those suffering in Gaza.

We recall that UN agencies, including UNFPA, are duty-bound to uphold the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. No partnership should proceed when the very women UNFPA is meant to protect are being bombed, starved, and denied the most basic rights of safety and dignity.

In the words of Secretary-General Guterres: “Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.” We implore UNFPA to ensure that its actions reflect this truth.

Sincerely,
Undersigned Women’s and Human Rights Organizations and activists

cc: UN Secretary-General António Guterres; UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; UNFPA Executive Board

Sources:

United Nations Secretary-General Statements and Remarks
United Nations OHCHR and Human Rights Council Reports
UN Experts’ Statement on Al-Shifa Hospital Assault
OCHA and WHO Humanitarian Updates on Gaza
Brookings Institution – Gaza Humanitarian Interview (citing UN data)
The Guardian News Reporting on Gaza War and UN Findings