Status of Gaza's children

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Media contacts Casey Calamusa | 206.310.5476 Rachel Wolff | 253.394.2214

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World Vision, as a child-focused humanitarian organization, is deeply concerned about the lasting impact this violence is having on the affected populations, especially on vulnerable children and their families. Both Palestinian and Israeli children suffer because of violence or threat of violence. In addition to the urgent physical needs for survival that must be met in the aftermath of the incursion, the children of Gaza have just endured highly traumatic events that demand attention from the international community. There is a massive need for psycho-social support, particularly for children.

Even before the latest conflict, children in Gaza faced high levels of recurrent nightmares and anxiety-induced bedwetting linked to prolonged exposure to violence and fear.

A recent study by World Vision, released just before this wave of violence, illustrated high rates of trauma among children in North Gaza. The June 2008 survey of 754 children ages 5 to 15 in Beit Lahiya showed that more than 16 percent suffer from nightmares, the majority of which were caused by fear (76.7 per cent). Psychological problems and health issues were also contributing causes, the study showed.

This confirmed the extent to which children’s well-being has been impacted by exposure to destruction, suffering, and death. Our staff in Gaza also report the incursion compounded high levels of trauma, which without intervention has harmful effects on overall childhood development and may lead to devastating long-term consequences.

It is with these children in mind that we must act to help Gaza recover. In early response, the immediate and primary concerns for the population are humanitarian access to provide food, water, clothing and shelter. Once those begin to be met, the need for children to have some normalcy in life is also of utmost importance to their overall well-being.

In addition to providing Family Emergency Kits containing food, blankets and hygiene items, World Vision also aims to emphasize its “Child-Friendly Spaces” approach of providing places where children can safely interact, play and receive psycho-social care to help them begin recovering emotionally.

We call on the international community to urgently address the needs of children in Gaza including their emotional and psychosocial health. We urge all parties to consider how their violent actions may impact the young generation for years to come as they struggle to make sense of the violence. We also reiterate our call for full, unfettered access for staff and goods to enter Gaza and tend to the urgent needs of those affected.

A World Vision International relief manager in Gaza this past week reported the following:

“Amir (9 years old) and his family of eight hid in their house as the F-16s flew over top. When the bombing started they moved to the house next door. They were told it would be safer. In front of the house was a small field. Amir’s father looked outside and saw his brother had been hit by some of the artillery from the plane. Amir’s father and uncle ran out of the house to try to rescue their brother, only to be shot dead by the helicopter gunship hovering above. Amir’s house collapsed after a bomb landed on it. The family then ran from the second house through the field where Amir’s father and uncle lay. Amir looked at the body and thought he recognized the shoes on the feet of the dead person… His mother pulled him along saying, ‘Lots of men have shoes like Daddy’s.’ After five days, Amir asked, ‘Where is my father?’ The mother knew she had to tell the truth and said that he was dead and that grandfather had buried him, after the planes and the tanks left, under the big tree. Amir rushed out. It was then discovered that Amir ran to the big tree and dug with his hands to find his father.

“Fatima is a beautiful six-year-old Palestinian girl. Her long black hair used to flow to halfway down her back. On January 17, the F-16 planes were flying low, dropping their bombs in her neighborhood. She, her four siblings and parents all ran to the school 500 yards down the road, the same as another 400 men, women and children around the area. At night they slept on the floor in a classroom, approximately 15 families to a room. At 6 a.m. in the morning, the planes flew low and dropped their deadly cargo of white phosphorous bombs. These crashed through the school roof and hot phosphorous rocks settled on top of the innocent sleeping children and women. Three rocks hit Fatima, instantly burning her hair and face… Many people were burned. Fatima’s external scars are now healing, but the scars on the inside are still raw. Every time Fatima hears a plane she runs inside. She is too scared to go to school. She is angry at her mother and asks, ‘Why did you let me get hurt?’ Fatima and many children like her will need time and special [care] for all of the scars to heal.”