Occupied Palestinian Territory

We face legal restrictions on how we can operate, and obstacles to movement that make almost every aspect of our programme, even an ordinary meeting of staff, a challenge.

Yet these difficulties compel us to champion childrens’ rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and across the world.

The daily realities of life — families losing their homes and land; a blockade around Gaza since 2007, affecting civilians lives; restrictions that deny ordinary children their basic freedoms; and the fear that children feel, traumatised by war, when they hear a loud noise – demand that we do everything in our power to give those children a better chance in life.

• More than 300,000 people are at risk of having their homes demolished. 
• We support families at risk of displacement, provide children with education and healthcare, advocate for children’s rights and respond to emergencies.

The challenge

Decades of conflict have resulted in deepening poverty throughout the West Bank and Gaza.

Palestinian children tell us they live in an environment of violence, fear and limited horizons.

They’re denied their rights to freedom of movement, education, health and an adequate standard of living.

Our work makes a demonstrable difference for thousands of Palestinian children, every day.

As one of the leading advocates for children here in the OPT, we’re determined to make children's voices heard.

What we’ve achieved

• We’ve put children’s rights on the agenda, working with the Palestinian Authority (PA) to produce the first-ever review of Palestinian laws, policies and projects to see how the PA has fulfilled its obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Hundreds of thousands of children will benefit from this ground-breaking initiative.
• Together with our partner, the Tamer Institute for Community Education, we help parents, teachers and students find alternatives to violence in 25 schools across the OPT.
• We’ve helped around 15,000 mothers and children in Gaza get better access to primary health services, and better care for children with special needs.
• We’re a leader in coordinating the international community’s response to the displacement of children and their families.
• We were among the first to respond to the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, helping 200,000 people.

What’s urgent now

Over the next three years, we’ll provide 100,000 children aged four to 16 years with a better education.

We’ll reach over 200,000 children and their families with maternal and child health services, help for children with special needs and access to clean water.

We’ll continue to fight the forced displacement of Palestinian children and their families and the devastation of house demolitions, as documented in our report, Broken Homes: Addressing the impact of house demolitions on Palestinian children and families.

You can help

• Support our mother and child health and nutrition programming, and help children with special needs with comprehensive rehabilitative health services.
• Donate to desalinisation units at schools, kindergartens and community centres in Gaza so that children have clean water.
• Help provide the essential services and livelihoods that protect communities from displacement.
• Help us to respond to emergencies with family, child and baby hygiene kits and clothes.

Find out more

• Read Life on the Edge: The struggle to survive and the impact of forced displacement in high risk areas of the occupied Palestinian territory.

• Read Broken Homes: Addressing the impact of house demolitions on Palestinian children and families.