UNICEF / GAZA EDUCATION MENTAL HEALTH

The absence of schooling has caused children in Gaza to feel frustrated and isolated, leading to a lack of social and emotional development as well as cognitive development. The longer children are out of school, the greater the risk they will drop out permanently. UNICEF continues to work with implementing partners to provide recreational activities in support of children’s well-being. UNICEF

• Video Length: 00:03:37
• Production Date: 7 August 2024
• Asset Language: English; Arabic
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND - UNICEF
• Subject Topical: CHILDREN IN ARMED CONFLICTS; MENTAL HEALTH; HUMANITARIAN CRISIS
• Geographic Subject: GAZA
• MAMS Id: 3243644
• Parent Id: 3243644
• Alternate Title: unifeed240807e

Description

STORY: UNICEF / GAZA EDUCATION MENTAL HEALTH
TRT: 3:43
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT UNICEF ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ARABIC / ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 05 AUGUST 2024, GAZA STRIP

Shotlist

05 AUGUST 2024, DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA STRIP

1. Wide shot, Al Nayzak Learning Center in Deir al-Balah
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Salim Oweis, UNICEF Spokesperson:

“Children in Gaza has lost almost a year of education. No child in Gaza has been able to get education for the past ten months. It's taking a toll on their education and their futures
3. Various shots, at Al Nayzak Learning Center in Deir al-Balah, children are learning math equations, counting numbers, and practicing multiplication and subtraction
4. Various shots, at Al Nayzak Learning Center in Deir al-Balah, children are learning English through playing games. They are also learning the English alphabet, pronunciation, spelling, and writing in English.
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Orjwan Hassan, 10-Year-Old:
“Before the war, we used to wake up early, go to school, and wash our faces and teeth. But now we study sitting on the ground inside a tent, without chairs. I wish we could go back to school and that the war would end.”
6. Various shots, at Al Nayzak Learning Center in Deir al-Balah, children are learning English through playing games. They are also learning the English alphabet, pronunciation, spelling, and writing in English
7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Tala, 10-Year-Old:
I wish everything could go back to how it was before the war. I miss having proper school desks, chairs, schoolbooks, and backpacks, and going to school like a normal kid.

05 AUGUST 2024, KHAN YOUNES, GAZA STRIP.

8. Wide shot, the entrance of the UNICEF-led mental health and psychosocial support tent, MHPSS, in Gaza to help children to process their thoughts, feelings, and experiences in a safe way
9. Various shots, inside the UNICEF-led mental health and psychosocial support tent, MHPSS, children participate in activities such as one-on-one sessions, coloring, dancing, and singing. The conflict in Gaza is having a profound impact on children psychologically
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Salim Oweis, UNICEF Spokesperson:
“Ten months after the war in Gaza and the ongoing violence, all the children in the Gaza Strip are facing horrible difficulties on the emotional levels. All the children in the Gaza Strip need mental health and psychosocial support, and that's what UNICEF with partner organizations are doing here. Giving a little bit of respite, a little bit of normality to the children, some activities that they, get out and get disconnected from the realities, the harsh realities outside. These activities help children to regain their emotions, to be able to face a very hard, and challenging life that they've been pushed to. Children shouldn't face that kind and that level of violence. Children should be protected. They should be treated well, and they should be given the opportunities that they need. Children really need now a ceasefire so they can grow and thrive.”
11. Various shots, inside the UNICEF-led mental health and psychosocial support tent, MHPSS, children participate in activities such as one-on-one sessions, coloring, dancing, and singing. The conflict in Gaza is having a profound impact on children psychologically

Storyline

The absence of schooling has caused children in Gaza to feel frustrated and isolated, leading to a lack of social and emotional development as well as cognitive development. The longer children are out of school, the greater the risk they will drop out permanently. UNICEF continues to work with implementing partners to provide recreational activities in support of children’s well-being.

The conflict in Gaza is also having a profound impact on children psychologically. Children are terrified, and they have been for a long time now. They are experiencing severe symptoms of trauma including dissociation, anxiety, fear, nightmares and sleep disorders, upsetting memories, inability to speak, and withdrawal.

The situation is further exacerbated by the strains on frontline workers and the near total collapse of the pre-existing mental health system. Gaza’s single psychiatric hospital was destroyed early on in the conflict, much needed psychotropic medication for people with mental disorders is difficult to impossible to find, and Gaza’s mental health practitioners are themselves experiencing severe loss and displacement.

UNICEF programmes are focused on helping children to process their thoughts, feelings, and experiences in a safe way. It’s important for children to know they are not alone in these big feelings they are having – which are also quite scary and potentially isolating them. They need to look to the adults around them to learn how to handle these intense feelings and respond to them in ways that are safe.