Rafah City is sheltering the majority of the 1.9 million Palestinians who have been forced from their homes during the war, now in its fourth month. They have lost family members, homes, properties, and vital sources of income. Among those deeply affected is Alaa Abu Mudallah, the owner of the "Khotwa" training centre, an initiative she started to address one of the most pressing sources of hardship for Gaza residents—pervasive unemployment.

Tired of waiting about, she decided to do something, establishing a training centre to address the lack of practical and technical support for students in her field.

Khotwa, which means ‘step’, opened in 2012, starting slowly, with only a few students. But Alaa persisted, marketing her business and networking with universities. In 2020 she had 400-500 students every month.

That same year UNDP’s Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People, with funds from Japan, launched a programme to support women-led businesses affected by COVID-19. Khotwa received US$9,000. Alaa used it to expand into IT and programming, attracting more young people. Unfortunately, during the Gaza May 2021 Escalation, Khotwa was hit and demolished, forcing Alaa to start over.

As the economic situation worsens in the fourth month of the war, Alaa, a confident and successful businesswoman, has been forced to rely on her savings to survive. Far more used to supporting others, she must now accept help herself. "It is humiliating for me that I was someone who helps others financially, and now I ask for food parcels and assistance," she says.

Gazans are not just paying the price of war with their lives and health; the conflict is also stealing their future.

An early UNDP/ESCWA report had estimated that if the war was to continue for over three months, there will be an increase of between 20 to 45 percent in poverty, and a sharp decline in the Human Development Index, which will set back progress by between 11 and 16 years.