DRA ACM Gaza 2025

The humanitarian situation in Gaza is extremely dire; almost all the population is displaced, not one of the 36 hospitals is fully functioning, nearly 96% of the population faces food insecurity and Save the Children's (SC) latest study found that explosive weapons left 15 children a day with potentially lifelong disabilities in 2024. Since July 2024, SC has systematically collected Food Consumption Score and HH Hunger Score, contributing to the IPC analysis. In addition, SC is sharing all PDM data with REACH for their Rapid Market Overview. According to data collected by SC, 33% of HHs in the Gaza strip are in the poor FCS category and 35% in the borderline category. Hunger levels are equally alarming, with 42% of HHs facing severe hunger and 34% experiencing moderate hunger. Nearly all 1.1 million children in Gaza are in urgent need of food, with many surviving on one meal a day. In addition, according to the latest IPC analysis, an alarming 31% of the population is in Phase 5 and 60,000 children are acutely malnourished, of which 12,000 severely. With the people in Gaza having diversified needs, MPCA will give the needed flexibility & agency for beneficiaries to fulfil their changing needs with dignity. However, MPCA funding remains critically low e.g. of the nearly $3 billion provided by UNOCHA to various sectors, only 0.1% (1.5M) was dedicated to MPCA. The majority of funding is going to other sectors incl. site management & shelters (key actors are NRC & ACTED) and food security/baskets (WFP). SC currently uses a database showing a significant backlog of HHs awaiting cash assistance, showing relevance & appropriateness of cash assistance. To address these gaps and to complement the existing response in Gaza, SC will provide MPCA under this project; coordinating with the Ramallah Ministry of Social Development (MoSD) & Cash Working Group (CWG), contributing to the social registry and ensuring referrals when unable to provide support due to budget limitations.