OUR WORK

The occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), comprising Gaza and the West Bank including East Jerusalem, faces a protracted humanitarian and child rights crisis fuelled by decades of military occupation, intermittent conflict, and a  blockade of the Gaza Strip since 2007.

Save the Children has worked in the occupied Palestinian territory since 1953, with a permanent presence since 1973. Since then, we have worked with partners to help provide quality education, protection for children, early childhood development support, and employment opportunities for at risk youth. We also focus on child-centred climate change programming, advocacy and campaigning,  on environmental education, community-based adaptation and climate activism. 

At the same time, we are committed to strengthening the capacities of local partners to promote child rights and to increase the participation of children in the decisions that affect their lives. To support this, we work with governing authorities to help promote an environment where children are protected and their rights are respected. We also support national monitoring and reporting systems to uphold children’s rights at the community, national and international levels. Through our work, we seek to increase the accountability of duty bearers towards children while strengthening the resilience of children, schools and communities in the context of the ongoing occupation. 

When displacement, escalations, and war arise, we are able to quickly mobilise a response. 

Since the war in Gaza began in October 2023, the situation for children across the occupied Palestinian territory has rapidly deteriorated.Save the Children has scaled up its response team to more than 200 staff to deliver emergency programming directly and through our civil society partners. Our core focus in this response is child protection, health, and nutrition, complemented by critical food security, livelihoods, and emergency education support. Multi-purpose cash assistance is a core pillar of our response across the occupied Palestinian territory.

Our child protection, health and nutrition assistance is provided in child-friendly spaces and primary health care centres through integrated programming that includes protection case management and referrals, mental health and psychosocial support, maternal, newborn and primary pediatric care, water, sanitation, and nutrition support, and informal education, complemented by cash assistance to caregivers.

As a child rights organisation and an active member of the Association of International Development Agencies, Save the Children also supports collective efforts to advocates for reform of policies and practices driving children’s needs across the oPt.

Child Protection and Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS)
Improving the protection, mental health, and psychosocial well-being of girls, boys, and their caregivers. Enhance safe access to child protection services including mental health and psychosocial support for children and their caregivers in shelters, schools and surrounding communities across the occupied Palestinian territory. Through our partners, Save the Children has also been providing critical rehabilitative and psychosocial support to formerly detained children. Beyond protection and referrals, this support includes education and vocational training support. 

Multi-purpose Cash Assistance (MPCA)
Ensuring the most vulnerable girls and boys and their caregivers have adequate access to essential commodities and services through multi-purpose cash assistance. In coordination with the Cash Working Group which we co-lead, we deliver cash assistance to vulnerable families, conduct remote post-distribution monitoring, and monitor markets to ensure this remains the appropriate delivery mechanism. 

Shelter and Non-Food Items (NFIs)
Ensuring girls, boys and their families can access lifesaving, adequate, appropriate, and timely shelter and household items to meet immediate needs. We provide affected households with safe and dignified shelter kits or tents/temporary shelters  along with items such as blankets, mattresses, clothing, kitchen sets, and torches, or – market conditions allowing – cash to make their own household purchases.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)
Ensuring girls, boys, and their families have access to and use safe water, sanitation facilities, and essential sanitation items to reduce exposure to public health risks. We improve and restore critical water and sewage infrastructure and provide supplies for water storage, sanitation and hygiene promotion activities.

Maternal, Newborn and Child Health
Increasing access to lifesaving healthcare services through disease prevention, maternal, newborn and child health services, and promotion of mental wellbeing. This is achieved through providing lifesaving health services such as trauma care, newborn, child and maternal health support, procurement, storage and distribution of medicine and medical supplies, and awareness raising of positive health measures.

Maternal and Child Nutrition
Improving nutritional status of children and pregnant and breastfeeding women through improved infant and young child feeding and strengthening detection, referral and treatment of malnutrition. This includes detection and treatment for acute malnutrition in children under 5, referring children with severe acute malnutrition and complications to appropriate services.

Education and Learning
Ensuring boys and girls have access to quality and inclusive education in learning spaces that promote their wellbeing and resilience. We achieve this by focusing on promoting the wellbeing of children and teachers through psychological first aid, psychosocial support, and recreational activities. We also distribute Education in Emergencies kits, family kits, and menstrual hygiene management kits for adolescent girls, refer children in need of mental health and psychosocial support to Save the Children child friendly spaces, and provide temporary learning spaces focusing on non-formal education and provision of school supplies.

Food Security and Livelihoods
Addressing the urgent food needs of the most vulnerable families by improving their access to essential provisions including in-kind food and hot meals. In addition, we support agricultural livelihoods recovery and restoration of income generation activities, which will be critical for early recovery.

Child Rights Governance
Working with the Palestinian Government and other relevant stakeholders to ensure the implementation of the UN Convention on Rights of a Child (UNCRC), through promoting an environment where children are protected and their rights are achieved through legislative and policy changes and by informing government priorities for child development. We are also working to support the development of systematic and institutional monitoring, reporting and upholding of children’s rights at the community, national, and international levels.