the purpose
The purpose of this response plan is to enable children and young people in Gaza to resume their right to learning as soon as possible after the cessation of hostilities, and to ensure that all education stakeholders plan to do so during the current hostilities. The idea is to do as much as possible to achieve this, and then plan for it. Supports the effective resumption of education in Gaza following the cessation of hostilities.
For it to be effective, this response plan must be developed and owned by all stakeholders involved in supporting the right to education for all children and young people in Gaza. The role of the Education Cluster is to support this development and encourage ownership. This will require the continuation and scaling up of interventions that are possible before the cessation of hostilities, including in the first six months of initial post-ceasefire recovery, and then during the remainder of the first year of recovery. There is a need.
Background: Education before October 7, 2023
In Gaza, 17 years of blockade and recurrent conflict have damaged and destroyed an already fragile educational infrastructure, increasing pressure on educational facilities, disrupting education provision, and impacting the psychosocial well-being of children and teachers. It is reaching.
In June 2021, the Rapid Damages and Needs Assessment of the Impact of Hostilities from May 2021 noted:
A 15-year-old boy currently living in Gaza [in 2021] It would have survived four major conflicts, with the May 2021 conflict being the latest. Repeated and prolonged exposure to such high levels of stress resulting from this cycle has far-reaching effects on physiological and emotional health as well as behavioral and neurological development. These negative effects reduce children's ability to learn in school and become productive people in the future.
After 15 years of blockade, four out of five children in Gaza say they are living with depression, sadness and fear, according to a study conducted by Save the Children International.
The severity of the psychological impact on Gaza's children's ability to learn was compounded by a variety of practical, administrative, and infrastructural deficiencies.
