UNICEF – State of Palestine Country Office Annual Report 2022

8 March, 2023

Update on the context and situation of children
2022 has witnessed a concerning increase in the level of tensions and violence across the State of Palestine, resulting in a worrisome deterioration of protection of civilians, particularly children. Only 14 months after the May 2021 escalation, in August three days of hostilities took place in the Gaza Strip leaving thousands of children traumatized and in need of life-saving support. As of 31 December 2022, 53 Palestinian children and one Israeli child were killed in conflict-related violence, and 1,049 children were reported injured. During the same period, Israeli forces detained at least 434 children in East Jerusalem.

Schools also experienced intermittent closures and delays due to widespread security constraints. For instance, two schools were affected by demolition incidents, and over 85 students (37 girls) and 18 teachers were impacted. The Education Cluster verified that between January and September 2022, a total of 8,381 class minutes were lost due to education-related incidents.
Exacerbated by protracted trauma, these recurrent rounds of violence have serious impacts on children and women’s lives and their mental health. The 2023 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) identified a total of 725,000 children in need of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) a slight increase from the children in need identified in the previous year.

In 2022, the State of Palestine was not spared from the rising global food and fuel prices as a result of the conflict in Ukraine. The food component of the Palestinian Consumer Price Index (CPI) steeply increased to its highest point in the past six years, triggering inflation. The State of Palestine has the second-highest food import share in the region, with food imports comprising about 34 per cent of total imports. The increasing cost of food is weakening the purchasing power of families, especially of the most vulnerable and could force them to adopt negative coping mechanisms. This, combined with the dire financial situation of the Palestinian Authority, the COVID-19 outbreak, the impact of climate change and widespread security constraints, is increasing deprivation and vulnerability among children, their families and communities.

Furthermore, a polio outbreak was reported in Israel, while environmental samples tested positive in two governorates in mixed sewage in the State of Palestine. As a preventive measure, MoH, with the support of UNICEF and WHO, conducted two campaigns vaccinating more than 46,000 children aged 0-5. A few months later, a positive cholera environmental sample in Israel raised the alert for high preparedness among the MoH and the National Water and Environment authorities. The regional cholera outbreak in Lebanon and Syria elevated the cholera risk levels.

Despite these challenges, the Palestinian Government took some positive steps to enhance child rights. Significant developments were made to strengthen the child protection legal and regulatory framework (SDG 16) with the update of the national referral system for child victims and children at risk, along with the case management guidelines for child protection councillors. The updates are in line with the adoption of the Child Rights Law Executive Regulation on Child Protection mechanisms No.16 of 2022.

In Education, good progress was made in increasing children’s access to pre-primary education (SDG4) with an increase of 3.6 per cent. However, school enrolment for basic education has remained stable over the years, with a transition rate from lower to upper secondary of 92.4 per cent (97.1 per cent for girls and 87.5 per cent for boys). The gender difference in the transition rate is worrisome, indicating that more boys than girls drop out of school. Latest reports from the Ministry of Education (MOE) show that by grade 11, at least 18 per cent of students drop out of school. The MoE continued to work on key reforms, including restructuring its organizational structure by merging and establishing new directorates, elevating the curriculum directorate into a centre for curriculum and introducing a “school education quality assurance unit” with a mandate to transform the assessment system. Other reforms include establishing partnerships with universities and the private sector to promote the decentralization of power to regional, district and school levels.

A national volunteer programme under the Higher Council of Youth and Sports (HCYS) was successfully launched under the leadership of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) with support from UNICEF, UNFPA and UNDP. The platform aims at connecting potential youth (girls and boys) volunteers with opportunities to contribute meaningfully to their communities while gaining valuable work experience and skills for future employment.

In health, the Ministry of Health (MOH) strengthened its capacity to respond to outbreaks, while ensuring the continuum of essential and lifesaving health care services for over 3.6 million Palestinian across the country. Since 2018, in line with SDG 3, the percentage of health facilities with improved quality of neonatal health care increased from 10% to 30%, which contributed to the decline of the neonatal mortality rate (from 11 to 9 in each 1,000 live births), while the percentage of districts with PHC facilities delivering young child wellbeing services including the early childhood interventions increased from 0% to 10%.

In WASH, the State of Palestine continued progressing in the sector reform to meet the requirement of the Water Law, improving the water sector governance following the endorsement of the national water tariff system. In 2022, more regular sector working group meetings were conducted to increase the water rates and find solutions for safely managed levels of sanitation (SDG 6). However, significant disparities exist, and despite the efforts to improve WASH services, the State of Palestine is far from reaching safely managed water and sanitation services. In the Gaza Strip particularly, further investments are required to fully repair or restore WASH facilities damaged during the May 2021 and subsequent August 2022 escalations. To this end, continuous quality water supply should be ensured as only 4 per cent of households in the Gaza Strip have access to safely managed water, in a context of increased waterborne diseases.