The risks and realities facing the children of Gaza
Caritas Jerusalem mobile medical clinic, early 2023
For many years, Embrace’s partners have served to provide medical care for the mothers and children of Gaza, whose health was severely impacted by the blockade. Now Gaza’s children are being disproportionately affected by the current war, as Embrace’s Programmes & Partnerships Manager, Rhiannon, explains:
Last week began with International Children’s Day marking the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Last week also heralded some of the first pieces of ‘good news’ that we’ve heard out of Gaza, starting with the transfer of the premature babies from Al Shifa hospital, the temporary truce, and the growing number of hostages being released.
Good news is relative in all of these cases. We know, many of the babies from Al Shifa and the child hostages are orphaned, or separated from their parents. For the 31 premature babies within the first few hours and days of their lives the rights that should be protected according to the UN convention were denied them. Although birth brings us hope of a future, what does the future hold for those 31 children? It is a question that no one can answer, but we do know what some of the challenges will be.
Embrace has the privilege of working with three Christian organisations serving children in Gaza all the way from conception, right through childhood. The interventions that we support are particularly intensive up until the age of 6. This is because the early years of a child’s life lay the foundations for their future. Whether they can achieve highly in their education, whether their body develops correctly, whether they can form meaningful relationships and social connections that allow them to thrive, all of it is greatly improved through the right nutrition, support for parents and families and early diagnosis of diseases or developmental delays in those early years of life.
The NECC clinic in Gaza, early 2023.
It was already a challenge for our partners. The Near East Council of Churches run pre-conception, antenatal and postnatal clinics as well as well-baby clinics that provide regular check-ups to prevent and provide early diagnosis of disease and developmental delays. Despite all their efforts, they see anaemia rates of 75% amongst pregnant women and averaging 27% among children. Thankfully, the recovery rates amongst children are high, but it doesn’t stop the problem from re-occurring due to the deteriorating sanitary conditions in Gaza as a result of the 16-year blockade. Over the past five years, maternal mortality rates and the number of children born with congenital diseases among patients served by their clinics have both decreased. Annually around 78% of the children diagnosed with stunting recovered to normal milestones under the team’s attentive care.
A big part of the success has been the educational workshops that NECC and our other partners, Caritas Jerusalem and Al Ahli Arab Hospital, run on nutrition and good hygiene. Although the direct impact is hard to assess, at the NECC clinics in the Shajaia, Daraj and Rafah areas, there have been fewer instances of diseases related to WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) and nutritional deficiencies. Covid made things harder and recent inflation has been another threat to these gains, but still our partners had the hope and motivation to keep going, pushing back against the tide of deteriorating living conditions.
Caritas Jerusalem Clinic before the current conflict.
Since the war began on 7 October 2023, all of our partners have ceased their regular activities in Gaza; only basic emergency services remain. Until the truce water supplies to the north, where approximately 700,000 people are still living, were totally cut off. In the south, there is some potable water, but it is well below the recommended level and many have no option than to drink salty water. Most sewage and water treatment works are only able to function intermittently, and the new fuel for the northern water treatment won’t last long. There are well over 100 people using each bathroom and refuse is collecting in the streets.
It is therefore unsurprising that doctors and hospitals like our partner Al Ahli, are reporting a marked increase in cases of diarrhoea, scabies and other waterborne diseases. WHO reported 44,000 known cases of diarrhoea in Gaza. What is unknown is how the lack of nutrition and hygiene will affect pregnant and lactating women, their babies, and young children in the medium and long term. With reports that many are surviving off bread with zaatar as their daily meal, the cases of malnutrition that were common in Gaza before the war, will surely be increasing.
During the truce, NECC and Caritas Jerusalem have been running some basic health services and clinics and NECC is hoping to start some awareness and education work in the camps in coordination with the UN, but the tide of deteriorating conditions is more like a tsunami now.
This war is disproportionately impacting women and children. Around 70% of reported deaths have been of women and children, and many more children have been orphaned or left with life-long disabilities. With nearly half of the population in Gaza being children, it is not too big a stretch of the imagination to understand the growing concerns around starvation or an epidemic outbreak. Yet the international community is relatively quiet. Today aid is still at a trickle at best and the plans in place for responses during the truce, that as I type is still holding, will only meet the needs of a few. Speaking to a partner he said of the international community ‘they are trying to hide the sun by their hands’, which might be effective for now, but sooner or later the reality will be undeniable.
In reality, the current truce is little more than a short pause, a few moments to breathe. The much-needed large-scale humanitarian response and steps to recovery are still some way off. Embrace partners will continue to serve the community, as they are able. This is all dependent on what happens in the truce now and then the ‘what next’ of a real ceasefire. A ceasefire that is urgently needed to avoid more catastrophes befalling the women and children in Gaza.
