Humanitarian Situation Report – UNICEF update

Highlight:

After 50 days of fighting, an open-ended ceasefire brokered by the Egyptian government and agreed by the parties to the conflict on 26 August is holding. The ceasefire marks the end of the longest, deadliest and most destructive escalation in hostilities in Gaza since 1967.
Up to 110,000 people remain displaced in collective shelters and with host families. These IDPs include some of the 108,000 people now homeless in Gaza because their homes were destroyed during the conflict.
The mass movement of civilians, children in particular, into areas that were intensively affected by airstrikes and shelling, raises major concerns about Explosive Remnants of War (ERW).
Despite extensive repairs, electricity outages of 18 hours a day continue in most areas across Gaza. As a result, WASH services are disrupted with 450,000 people unable to access municipal water.
Preparations for the first day of school set for 14 September and a large-scale Back to School campaign are on-going in close coordination with the Ministry of Education and UNRWA.
Israel announced it will appropriate almost 1,000 acres of West Bank land southeast of Bethlehem for additional settlements. This is the largest appropriation of Palestinian land in 30 years.

Flash Appeal: $39.8 million

UNICEF revised its emergency appeal to meet the immediate and medium-term needs of IDP children and families until the end of 2014. UNICEF is urgently seeking US$ 39.8 million to provide a holistic package of relief assistance to at least 600,000 children with a focus on:

Back to School Campaign including all necessary repairs to damaged schools in priority areas and integrating psychosocial support and extracurricular activities into the school programme;

Strengthening the Gaza child protection network and case management systems with MoSA;

Repairs to essential WASH infrastructure and continued interim support to communities in need.

Situation Overview

An open-ended ceasefire brokered by the Egyptian government and agreed by the armed groups in Gaza, the Palestinian Authority and Israel entered into force on 26 August, the 50th day of the conflict. However, the terms of the agreement were not officially released and there are currently unmet conditions on both sides including Israel's demand to demilitarize Hamas, and Hamas' demand for the construction of air and seaports in Gaza.
Tensions continue in the West Bank and East Jerusalem with daily clashes between settlers, Israeli security forces and Palestinians in areas including Wadi al Joz, the Mount of Olives and Silwan in East Jerusalem. In the West Bank, an IED exploded south of Nablus and other attacks were reported in Beit Ummar, Qalqiliya Gush Etzion and Dura. With the announcement that Israel has declared almost 1,000 acres of land between Jerusalem and Gush Etzion settlement south east of Bethlehem, state land for settlement building, it is anticipated that tension and violence will escalate further.
There are currently 60,506 IDPs still seeking refuge in 26 UNRWA emergency collective shelters and 950 IDPs in two MoSA shelters. In Gaza City, at least 50% of the IDPs in UNRWA shelters are non-UNRWA registered refugees. Since the ceasefire on 26 August and the initial return of the majority of IDPs to their homes, the number of IDPs in collective shelters has gradually increased from a low of approximately 52,235 on 28 August, to the current number. Many people initially returned home and found them to be uninhabitable. Many such families returned to shelters or moved in with host families. A number of families have also erected tents and temporary shelters within the rubble of their homes or in other areas of the Strip. These families are highly at risk of exposure to ERWs.
The majority of the IDPs still in collective shelters are thought to make up part of the 108,000 people whose homes were destroyed during the conflict (see adjacent map from the Shelter cluster). Gaza City and North Gaza are the areas with the highest numbers of uninhabitable homes with Gaza City having almost 35% and North Gaza 25% of the total of totally destroyed and severely damaged houses. Agencies are looking at ways to best assist people who are expected to remain displaced over an extended period of time, including different options for transitional shelter. Winter is approaching and there is an urgent need to winterize damaged properties as soon as possible to prevent further displacement.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, 10,224 Palestinians, including 3,106 children and 1,970 women and 368 elderly, were injured during the conflict. Preliminary estimates indicate that up to 1,000 of the children injured
will have a permanent disability. A further 6,000 children will have a parent with a permanent disability as a result of injury. It is also estimated that 1,500 children have been orphaned so far in the conflict and will require sustained support from the child protection and welfare sectors. All of these children, and any other children from families that have experienced death, injury or loss of home since the beginning of the crisis, will require a level of sustained specialised support.

Summary Analysis of Programme response

UNICEF's emergency scaled-up response in Gaza is targeting under five-year-old children and mothers, children who will attend public schools, and vulnerable households in the most affected communities. Due to the ceasefire announcement, the IDP population is currently very fluid. As the population stabilises, so too will activities that will adapt and transfer to the locations of the conflict affected populations. UNICEF is currently focusing on supporting affected children and families in shelters, host families, and the communities that have been most severely hit.

Water Sanitation and Hygiene

WFP and UNICEF distributed eVouchers for water, hygiene products and food to vulnerable families, many of which have lost their homes. 14,000 families (approximately 84,000 people) have been reached through the distribution. This will be increased to cover 50,000 families (300,000 individuals). While the majority of the eVouchers are spent on food, analysis has shown that over 45% of the vouchers' value has been spent on sanitation products showing a clear need for these items by households. Further expansion of the voucher programme is under discussion with the Ministry of Social Affairs, WFP, UNICEF and UNRWA to give families maximum choice in terms of selecting the items they most need in a way that also benefits the local economy.
UNICEF has been supporting CMWU with urgent water network repairs including to water and sewage pipe systems.
In partnership with MA’AN, UNICEF is supporting on-going water tankering for domestic use in Gaza City. So far, 4,504 cubic meters of water reached 31,528 beneficiaries.
UNICEF, in cooperation with PHG, is also supporting on-going water tankering for drinking water. So far they have delivered 3,235 cubic meters of water for 50,000 individuals.
In partnership with GVC, UNICEF has distributed 370 communal tanks in the Middle area of Gaza. In partnership with MA’AN 14 water bladders have been installed: 6 in Gaza City, 5 in Khan Younis and 3 in Beit Hanoun. In total these water filling stations will provide water to 71,000 people.

Child Health & Nutrition

On 1 September, a UNICEF shipment of 90 tons of medical supplies, including 49,900 doses of PCV vaccine, entered Gaza. This is part of UNICEF's commitment to ensure that hospitals and health facilities are frequently re-stocked with essential drugs, vaccines and supplies. PCV is an essential vaccine for children 5 years and younger to prevent conditions such as pneumonia and meningitis caused by the Streptococcus pneumonia bacteria and frequent causes of death among infants.
Vaccinations are underway in Primary Health Centers run by the Ministry of Health and UNRWA. UNICEF is monitoring vaccination
coverage through the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS).
UNICEF is funding the Ministry of Health (MoH) Community Health Workers to conduct outreach activities in collective centres. 1,332 men, 1,980 women and 2,226 children participated in 93 awareness sessions on communicable diseases and breastfeeding in 36 UNRWA collective shelters.
MoH teams continued to make home visits to provide postnatal and neonatal care and advice to 773 mothers and 752 neonates. This agreement with MoH is a long-standing agreement that has been scaled-up to respond to current needs. Two partners, the Near East Council of Churches (NECC) and Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS), are supplementing these activities in areas that MoH cannot reach.

Child Protection

UNICEF is supporting partners to monitor and document all child fatalities. Daily reports are produced on killings, injuries and other grave violations against children, as required, including age and location analysis.
8,688 adolescents and children (48% females) benefited from basic psychosocial and recreational activities provided by UNICEF partners MA'AN and Tamer in 19 government shelters, 12 community-based organizations and 7 Libraries. UNICEF's partners will target an additional 7 CBOs to maximize coverage of affected children both in their homes and in community centers.
Radio spots are aired on radio stations to alert children and their families on the dangers posed by explosive remnants of war (ERWs) (up to 1 million people in Gaza have been reached to date).
Since 20 July, child protection and psychosocial text messages were sent to 790,000 subscribers of Jawwal in Gaza. The messages include actions that caregivers should take to reduce the vulnerability of children to death and injury,
to reduce psychosocial distress and to prevent and respond to child abuse. UNICEF and Jawwal provided a free phone number to call for advice and support (Sawa Helpline 121).
Since 13 July, Sawa Child Protection Helpline has been operating 24/7 with increased capacity to take thirty calls at one time and has been able to provide counselling to 2,812 callers from Gaza. 647 calls were about concerns about the impact of the conflict on children, and 1065 calls were about persistent fear of violence.
UNICEF is coordinating the Child Protection Working Group, the Mental Health and Psychosocial Working Group and the Working Group on Grave Violations against Children. Fifteen organisations are providing child protection activities through 23 implementing partners.
The CPWG's Child Protection Rapid Assessment Task Force is coordinating a child protection assessment which will inform the child protection sector strategy.
A UNICEF-led Task Force on referral and case management is mapping services to which children can be referred across the Gaza strip (beyond child protection specific services); once the system has been drafted, training and orientation will be required on all aspects of the system. This will form the basis of strengthening and rebuilding of child and family referral networks and case management systems in Gaza.
As part of the planning for the next phase of the humanitarian response, the CPWG has hosted two workshops on 18 August and 1 September on the Child Protection Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Action for members of the CPWG, which will precede and inform the development of the Child Protection Response Plan.

Education

Humanitarian Situation Report – UNICEF update

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