Gaza Emergency Fact Sheet
March 31, 2009
The Emergency
Save the Children continues to call for a peaceful solution to the current crisis that endangers the lives of nearly every child in Gaza, and the lives of Israeli children in areas subject to attacks. Humanitarian access into Gaza is still controlled and extremely limited, placing children and families in great need of nutritious food and other aid materials. Sporadic violence also continues to occur.
The Impact on Children
Children make up more than half of Gaza's population. During the conflict in December 2008 and January of this year, many thousands of girls and boys were repeatedly exposed to and experienced violence, fear, deprivation and unrest in their communities. At least 280 children were reportedly killed. Unexploded ordnance in the rubble poses a serious danger, and ongoing military activity is a source of children's continued stress and fear. Lack of nutritious food is also putting children's health at risk. While schools are open, repairs cannot be made to the estimated 240 schools and kindergartens that were damaged due to a restriction on construction materials being moved into Gaza. A preliminary assessment also indicated that more than 71,000 people have been displaced. Their children have lost textbooks, notebooks, uniforms and other learning materials that need to be replaced.
Save the Children's Response
Save the Children, which has worked in the Middle East since 1953, including in Israel, is one of the largest U.S. nongovernmental organizations in the West Bank and Gaza. We are focusing on providing children and families with essential relief and providing children with access to Child Friendly Spaces to help them rebound from fear and stress. To date, we have reached some 100,809 people in Gaza, of whom 56,452 are children. Save the Children welcomes the reduction of violence by all parties and continues to call for a permanent and negotiated cease-fire, paving the way for a durable peace that will benefit all children both in Gaza and Israel. We also are advocating unrestricted and sustained humanitarian access to Gaza, for the re-opening of crossings into and out of Gaza for humanitarian and commercial goods, and for an end to a 20-month embargo to allow the flow of aid and commerce to occur. In response to access constraints, a network of relief agencies including Save the Children has identified the minimum requirements to ensure that basic humanitarian assistance can be provided and the access we require to meet initial early recovery needs. These have been shared with the government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
Given the urgent physical and emotional needs of children, the breakdown in social services and the extreme shortages of basic necessities in Gaza, Save the Children is seeking $10 million in support. This funding will help us respond to children's immediate humanitarian needs and initiate long-term recovery programs for them and for their families. Our goal is to assist 150,000 people, half of them children. Save the Children's staff inside Gaza have initiated these responses since the conflict began on Dec. 27, 2008:
Child Protection
Education
- Save the Children and UNICEF are co-leading a UN initiative to help restore quality
education to children. Efforts are focused on the most severely damaged schools. A
school-based program to provide children with psychosocial support has also been formed
to meet this immediate need. - 36 teachers from 13 preschools participated in training sessions at which they learned to lead
a variety of games to encourage cooperation, self-esteem, confidence, and self-expression
among preschool-aged children. - We distributed 130 recreational kits filled with toys, crayons, paper and books to 13
preschools located in northern Gaza. The preschools serve some 7,471 young children.
Plastic sheeting was provided to 10 preschools to keep cold winter air out of the classrooms. - While nearly all children in Gaza have returned to school, there is an urgent need to make
psychosocial support available to them (extracurricular and sports activities, training for
teachers and counselors and summer learning opportunities).
Food Relief
people – half of whom are children. Each food parcel contained enough food to feed up to
10 people for two weeks and included sugar, rice, vegetable oil, peas, beans, lentils, wheat,
jam, tuna, cheese and meat.
Water and Sanitation
Lahiya and Al-Shoka villages. We will install household water tanks and pumps and are
educating families about hygiene practices.
water pipes in the governorates of North Gaza and Rafah.
Non-food Relief
- To date Save the Children and its partner, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency,
have distributed 1,500 family hygiene kits filled with essential hygiene items. We have also
distributed 1,055 infant care kits of baby clothing, blankets, diapers and ointment; and
thousands of packs of diapers to families with very young children. Portable cribs and
plastic mats for sleeping have also been distributed. - Plastic sheeting has been provided to over 200 families in Northern Gaza and Gaza City so
that they could cover damaged windows and block out winter cold. Save the Children has reached 42,500 children and adults with non-food relief.
Emergency Health Care
- Mothers and their children continue to receive medical attention through Save the Children,
and we are expanding activities. Children receive full medical exams and their growth and
development are being monitored. We are providing prenatal health services to pregnant
women. - Our medical facilities in Gaza and Jabalia continue to receive referral cases from surrounding
areas. Their case loads include both new cases and cases referred for follow-up exams. - We are seeking to provide private hospitals with medical supplies for maternal, neonatal and
pediatric care to improve the capacity and quality of care for women and children. - Save the Children delivered hundreds of sets of bed sheets, towels and surgical and nurses'
uniforms to the Al Awda Hospital in Jebaliya, northern Gaza and the Al Amal Hospital in
Khan Younis, southern Gaza during the conflict. - The health team sees approximately 60 patients per day. To date at least 15 cases of previously undetected preeclampsia in the early stages were discovered and treated, preventing the deterioration of the health of the expectant mother and the unborn child.
- At least 300 children to date have been screened for infectious diseases by the medical team through lab exams and complete physical exams which would not have been available to these children otherwise.
