A new policy brief from ESCWA and UN Women warns that conflict across the Arab region is rapidly eroding women’s safety, security, and economic participation. In conflict-affected settings, women’s mobility and access to services are among the first to deteriorate, with long-term consequences for recovery and stability. The impacts extend beyond countries directly experiencing conflict, as trade disruptions, financial instability, and strained public services affect women across the region.
The brief highlights that women are often the first to exit the labour market during crises, especially in countries where participation was already below 30 percent, such as Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and the State of Palestine. Many women are shifting into precarious or informal employment, undermining household resilience and slowing economic recovery. These pressures are compounded by the fact that women in the region already carry up to 90 percent of unpaid care work, creating a cycle of exclusion that is difficult to reverse.
Financial inclusion is also deteriorating, with reduced access to financial services limiting households’ ability to absorb shocks. Disruptions to digital financial infrastructure further accelerate women’s exclusion from formal systems, making recovery slower and less inclusive. ESCWA and UN Women stress that without targeted interventions, setbacks in women’s economic participation risk having long-term consequences not only for women and girls but for the resilience of entire societies.
The brief calls for urgent policy responses to protect women’s employment and income during crises, integrate care services into recovery frameworks, safeguard access to financial services and digital infrastructure, and strengthen gender-responsive monitoring and policymaking. These measures are seen as essential to prevent further erosion of gender equality and to support inclusive recovery across the Arab region.
