Gaza emergency support
The scale of what we are currently witnessing in Gaza is unfathomable.
Deliberate starvation on a mass scale.[1] Worse destruction than in World War Two; 70% of the north of Gaza obliterated. [2] Over 10,000 children killed[3], 17,000 children orphaned and alone.[4] 18,000 children injured.[5] Over 1,000 children are now amputees.[6] Everyone – young and old – is deeply traumatised by the past several months, and likely to suffer the after-effects for years to come.
Our focus is on emergency activities in Gaza, which we will continue to run until we are able to re-start our trauma programme and other regular activities.
Cash and food distribution, water, hygiene and sanitation needs
We have been channelling emergency cash via trusted colleagues to desperate families who are on the brink of famine[7]. Israel is allowing less than a fifth of humanitarian aid trucks, containing absolute basic needs for survival into Gaza.[8] A trickle of basic supplies make their way onto the black market, but these are unaffordable for most people.
Cash handouts are literally the difference between life and death. In addition, thanks to the immense resourcefulness and bravery of our local partners, we have established the regular provision of potable water to neighbourhoods cut off from water and electricity. The team has started bread-making facilities and a soup kitchen, and put together a roving team of plumbers to fix the few still functioning toilets shared by thousands.
Arts workshops and therapeutic play activities
In January 2024, we launched multiple activities for thousands of displaced children and their families across south, central and north Gaza.
These include painting and drawing workshops with talented local artists belonging to Shababeek for Contemporary Art centre and its networks.
Through Shababeek and our partner Canaan Institute, we are also running clown performances, play opportunities and music sessions for children across more than 20 schools that are now shelters for displaced families.
Canaan Institute activity leaders are also running creative writing workshops for older teenage children. These sessions provide space for children to express their feelings and start to find ways to process the trauma they are experiencing.
Emergency support to core partners
We are sending cash assistance to staff in our partner organisations whose homes have been destroyed and who are now sheltering in makeshift camps, on open ground, or in destroyed buildings. This assistance means that they can feed themselves and their families.
Will you help Palestinian children to rebuild their sense of hope?
Our emergency response work in Gaza, implemented through our trusted partners the Canaan Institute and Shababeek for Contemporary Art, helps children to experience moments of joy amid the horror and trauma that they experience every day.
Through chances to play, they can feel moments of joy, which helps them to remember how to hope.
