2020 oPt Emergency Appeal - Gaza - Mental Health and Psychosocial Support

The protracted humanitarian crisis, coupled with the impact of the violence related to the GMR demonstrations and recurrent hostilities, continue to have a significant and deleterious impact on the well-being of Palestine refugees in Gaza. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that approximately 210,000 people in the Gaza Strip (or over 10 per cent of the population) suffer from severe or moderate mental health problems and about 54 per cent of Palestinian boys and 47 per cent of Palestinian girls aged six to 12 years reportedly have emotional and/or behavioural disorders.28 In this context, maintaining the UNRWA MHPSS network in schools and health centres at full-time capacity will remain a top priority for the Agency in 2020. The Agency will ensure that school counsellors are deployed to all 276 UNRWA schools across the Gaza Strip to identify and support students who are experiencing psychosocial problems and protection threats through individual and targeted group counselling in schools, in line with the Agency?s inclusive education approach to the provision of psychosocial support. The Agency will also organize structured parent awareness sessions to promote positive parenting and positive family lives to increase coping capacity and resilience of adults. Through health counsellors in 22 UNRWA health centres, critical support will be provided to patients who present mental health needs requiring focused and structured counselling. Counsellors deal primarily with women (80 per cent of all cases), including those experiencing domestic and gender-based violence (32 per cent of all cases) and play an important role in addressing cases of GBV in coordination with UNRWA legal counsellors. Psychosocial support at UNRWA health centres is based on a comprehensive, structured and person-centred model of care, and includes psychosocial education sessions, focused support through group counselling, as well as individual counselling.