Overview
Palestinians have endured the pressure of the decades-long conflict with Israel, but recent levels of violence, along with intra-Palestinian division, are causing unprecedented hardship for families across oPt. Caregivers report acute signs of distress among children and parents say they are increasingly unable to fulfil their children’s basic needs, including protection from the escalating violence and poverty. Amid this volatility and misery, children say they have little to hope for and much to fear. With staff in Jerusalem, Gaza, Nablus, Jenin and Hebron, UNICEF works with the Palestinian Authority and a broad range of partners to protect children and women from the impact of violence, and to prevent further deterioration in their conditions and well-being. UNICEF’s programmes target the most vulnerable children and women, focusing on health and nutrition, water and sanitation, education, protection and participation. UNICEF works to strengthen institutional capacity for delivering on the goals and principles enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the World Fit for Children Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals through support for policy development, monitoring and advocacy. Globally, UNICEF operates in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. As the world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls and protection of children from violence, exploitation and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. Education
Infant and child mortality rates have stagnated since 2000 and stunting rates, reflecting chronic malnutrition, now affect 10 per cent of children, up from 7.2 per cent a decade ago. Households have become significantly and rapidly poorer in recent years, and food insecurity is on the rise, affecting more than half of households in Gaza and a quarter in the West Bank. More than 50 per cent of children under age five across oPt are anaemic and a quarter of infants suffer from vitamin A deficiencies, seriously undermining their intellectual achievement and physical development. Around 70 per cent of all infant deaths are due to prematurity, congenital malformation and pneumonia. The risk of disease outbreak and epidemics is relatively low given the already high national immunisation rates, above 97 per cent, for all vaccine preventable diseases. However, military operations, access and movement restrictions and recurrent power outages pose a major threat to child health service delivery. The challenge ahead is to maintain immunization rates, reach isolated communities in restricted areas, and sustain an active disease surveillance system to control potential outbreaks. In 2009, UNICEF aims to expand provision of quality health and nutrition care to children and mothers, focusing on the populations in greatest need. The programme will also equip adolescents with skills on healthy lifestyles. UNICEF will do this by:
Lack of safe drinking water and inadequate sanitation facilities across oPt are endangering the health of children and their families, especially in marginalised communities. Almost 250,000 people in 200 communities must cope with less than 30 litres per day each for their general water requirements, an amount far below the internationally recommended daily amount of 150 litres. At home, families are often forced to trade off household and personal hygiene so they will have enough water for cooking and drinking. More than one in 10 households in oPt is not connected to water networks; about two-thirds of households are not connected to a sewage system; and nearly 80 per cent of domestic wastewater is discharged into the environment without treatment. Over extraction of ground water wells and increasing contamination due to sewage infiltration and sea water intrusion are key concerns for water safety in both the West Bank and Gaza. In deeply impoverished communities with poor sanitary conditions, children face the possibility of water-borne infections such as trachoma, conjunctivitis, dysentery, gastro-enteritis, ascariasis and hookworm. Unhygienic conditions in many schools expose children to infections. A lack of clean drinking water also increases the risk of diarrhoea, hepatitis A, typhoid fever, paratyphoid and gastro-enteritis. UNICEF is working to strengthen and improve water and sanitation systems, especially in schools and health facilities. In 2009, UNICEF will work with partners to:
Children and their families live in an environment increasingly characterised by violence, poverty and insecurity. A total of 1,475 Palestinian children were killed in the conflict with Israel since the beginning of the second intifada in September 2000 until January 2009, and thousands more have been injured. Palestinian children are regularly held in detention by Israeli authorities and as at end February 2009, 400 Palestinian children were being held in Israeli prisons. The overall protective environment for children throughout oPt requires considerable strengthening. Protection systems and services are fragmented, child protection specialists are few and community and family protective abilities are being constantly eroded. One result of the deteriorating living conditions is greater tension within the home and a higher incidence of domestic violence. In a 2006 study, 53.3 per cent of mothers in the West Bank and 48.5 per cent in Gaza revealed that one of their children aged 5-17 years old had been exposed to violence during the previous year in the home, school and the street. UNICEF and its partners are working to build a protective environment for children. In 2009, UNICEF will continue to:
Adolescents between the ages of 13 and 18 comprise around 11 per cent of the population. They are a particularly vulnerable group as they are frequently exposed to the frontline of conflict and violence. In 2008, 80 per cent of children killed in conflict were adolescents. Most children being held in Israeli detention facilities are between 15 and 17 years old. There are limited recreational facilities and programmes for young people, and the ongoing violence triggers severe emotional duress and feelings of great insecurity. Adolescents report anxiety, poor performance in school and aggressive behaviour as their main symptoms of stress. The number of teens falling below their grade level and dropping out of school continues to rise. Adolescents have little access to information, limiting their chances of learning critical life skills including communication, leadership and stress management. While nearly all adolescents said they had heard about HIV and AIDS, nine out of 10 could not name ways of preventing HIV infection. Prior to the recent crisis in Gaza, 62 per cent of youth already said they felt insecure, along with half of their peers in the West Bank. Around half also said they felt discriminated against on the basis of politics, social class, gender, religion or geographical location. UNICEF programmes aim to strengthen national capacity to increase adolescent participation, improve secondary school retention, reduce violence, and improve knowledge on healthy lifestyles. In 2009 UNICEF will:
Facts and figures Population (2006): 3,761,646 |
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