The trauma of bombings, occupation, injury, death and loss creates untold pain and struggle for the people of occupied Gaza.

It is absolutely crucial that we work to provide, improve and maintain the best mental health care and support that we can. 

What we're planning

We are hoping to provide psychosocial support for able and disabled 4-18 year olds through play and activity. We will facilitate everything that's needed for systematic recreational and educational activities, which will take place at our partner HQ, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS).

We will also provide 32 psychosocial workers distributed across the Gaza Strip with the tools and training required to act accordingly in emergency situations.

For children with physical disability, we have a program with up to 500 places to make regular use of the recreational and educational facilities and activities at PRCS.

Using Gaza and the West Bank's internal and external experts on psychosocial services, we hope to expand the capacity of the staff currently working in the mental health services in the region.

What we'll achieve

With the changes we have in mind, we're hoping to see great benefits, better quality of life and positive experiences for the 10,000 children currently residing in south Gaza. Instilling the skills of play, friendship, imagination and movement through provision of safe facilities will add huge value to many lives in Gaza.

We hope to see levels of violence lowered in schools and the psychosocial conditions and resilience of the 500 children improved.

In building capacity of existing staff, along with 40 newly graduated doctors and nurses, we hope to bring more rounded and thorough care to the occupied region. These skilled individuals will help to integrate mental health into primary healthcare and establish our plans of a more effective referral system for mental health cases.