Gaza Strip: Humanitarian Dashboard
November 2014
SITUATION OVERVIEW
The fifty one days of escalated hostilities that started on 7 July 2014 entailed intensive bombardments, rocket, mortar fire and ground operations across the Gaza Strip. This resulted in a record number of civilian casualties, the devastation of civilian buildings and infrastructure, and large scale displacement. Every man, woman and child in the Gaza Strip – some 1.8 million people – were directly affected by the conflict. Rocket fire from Gaza also affected communities in Israel. On 26 August, the parties to the conflict reached an open-ended cease-fire, which has held to date. However, the situation remains very fragile, due to the scale of the needs, the slow pace of reconstruction, the ongoing blockade and internal tensions. The situation could be further exacerbated in the event of anticipated, small-scale emergencies, such as winter flooding.
KEY FIGURES
FUNDING: GAZA FLASH APPEAL 2014
The Gaza Crisis Appeal presents the joint strategy of the humanitarian community, including UNRWA, to respond to the current crisis in the Gaza Strip. The appeal is closely coordinated with the Government of the State of Palestine, including with its Early Recovery and Reconstruction Strategy.
RESPONSE PRIORITIES
- Meet the needs of internally displaced person (IDPs) is a key cross-cutting issue across clusters. Transition and return solutions IDPs have been discussed and laid out in an IDP strategy paper.
- Address the shelter needs of the affected population, both in the immediate term through effective shelter management and in the medium term, through supporting the displaced to return to adequate housing in a timely manner, through either temporary rental assistance or immediate shelter repair and reconstruction.
- Ensure provision of basic services, including water and sanitation, health, energy and solid waste collection, social protection to vulnerable groups including for gender based violence (GBV) survivors, child protection/welfare as well as education, to the affected population with a particular focus on IDPs in UNRWA-run, governmental and informal shelters as well as those with host families.
- Meet the food security needs of affected populations and food insecure families and enable recovery and restoration of damaged livelihoods.
- Enhance the protection of affected populations by promoting respect for international humanitarian law and human rights and providing legal support to pursue accountability for alleged violations.
- Address the protection needs of vulnerable groups, in particular IDPs, children, orphans, pregnant women and female headed households, though the provision of psychosocial and livelihood support, and addressing immediate explosive remnants of war (ERW) and similar threats.
- Ensure adequate winterization takes place for people living in collective centers, transitional housing solutions and in damaged homes and preposition adequate supplies to prepare for and respond to small-scale emergencies related to the upcoming winter season, such as non food items (NFIs), fuel, spare parts and equipment and rubble removal and drainage material as well as mobile pumps. Locations to host additional IDPs as a result of a possible winter-weather related emergency need to be identified and prepared.
Ongoing and Planned Response
1. School reconstruction and rehabilitation (including replacement of damaged furniture and classroom materials).
2. Provision of psychosocial support and extra-curricular activities.
3. Procurement of school uniforms, stationary and other student supplies.
4. Winterization of schools damaged by conflict and identification of additional schools to be used as IDP collective centers.
Ongoing and Planned Response
1. Immediate food assistance to displaced people and food insecure people.
2. Provision of cash assistance to targeted food-insecure households affected by the conflict.
3. Urgent input support and immediate restoration of productive capacities and assets for farmers, herders and fishers with a particular focus on seasonal time-bound activities.
4. Support to the livestock sector through provision of fodder and water to prevent complete livestock loss.
Ongoing and Planned Response
1. Ensure that the specific needs of trauma patients resulting from the crisis are met.
2. Provide access to essential health services for IDPs, including specialist services that also take into account the needs of specific, vulnerable, groups.
3. Referral of survivors of conflict-related violence and GBV to protection organizations.
4. Awareness campaigns regarding the winter weather and possible public health risks, as well as emergency fuel deliveries.
Ongoing and Planned Response
1. Child protection interventions, including psychosocial and material support.
2. Risk assessment clearance and disposal of explosive remnants of war (ERW).
3. Targeted ERW awareness/risk education activities.
4. Monitoring, documentation and reporting of cases of alleged violations of international law, including grave violations against children.
5. Legal assistance to pursue accountability for alleged violations of human rights and international humanitarian law and to address legal needs arising from the conflict.
6. Gender based violence response, with a focus on prevention and multi-sectoral responses including legal, psychosocial and emergency health responses to GBV victims.
7. Mainstreaming protection in the responses provided by clusters and sectors
Ongoing and Planned Response
1. Emergency winterization of damaged homes.
2. Transitional shelter cash assistance to families that had their homes destroyed or severely damaged.
3. Support to host and hosted families, including by the provision of non-food items (NFIs), cash assistance and improvements to privacy, etc.
4. Delivering prefabricated housing units to serve as transitional shelters for up to 5,000 displaced families.
5. Increasing the existing housing stock for rental, including through expediting the completion of unfinished units and the conversion of commercial space for residential use.
6. Improving the quality of support and services to IDPs in UNRWA’s Collective Centres.
7. Clearing of Explosive Remnants of War (ERW), followed by rubble and debris removal to permit early recovery and positioning of prefabricated units.
8. Distribution of cash assistance to replace lost household items (reintegration package).
9. Contingency planning and replenishment of emergency shelter and NFI stocks for winter flooding and potential resurgence of hostilities.
10. Supporting beneficiary-driven reconstruction and repairs activities of damaged homes, once construction materials are available.
11. Establishing a planning and environmental framework to guide reconstruction and early recovery activities in areas that experienced widespread devastation.
Ongoing and Planned Response
The WASH cluster priorities are grouped into two types of interventions:
A. Support to service providers
1. Support to water, wastewater network, and facilities repair.
2. Support to electricity repair.
3. Supply fuel for generators, facilities, and solid waste collection vehicles.
4. Generators including spare parts and consumables.
5. Other consumables, e.g. chlorine.
6. Other spare parts and equipment for infrastructure repair, including large construction equipment.
7.Support to Solid Waste Management of municipalities and communities.
B. Response at household and community level
1. Potable water supply, in form of cash, water voucher, or in-kind trucking support including new water tankers.
2. Water for domestic use trucking.
3. Bulk and HH storage including support to Gaza based production of tanks.
4. Sanitary installations for IDPs and rehabilitation of household sanitation, potentially
including mobile latrines and solid waste collection at community level.
5. Hygiene kits and vouchers for hygiene items including hygiene promotion.
6. Prepositioning of mobile pumps and other flood drainage equipment.
7. Cleaning activities (rubble removal, storm water gullies and lagoons as well as fixing
maintaining storm water critical facilities).
8. Flood prone areas.
Download Document Files: https://unispal.un.org/pdfs/GazaHumDash_120214.pdf
Document Type: Situation Report, Update
Document Sources: Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Subject: Armed conflict, Assistance, Casualties, Education and culture, Food, Gaza Strip, Health, House demolitions, Humanitarian relief, Internally displaced persons, Living conditions, Population, Protection, Shelter
Publication Date: 02/12/2014