2022 Humanitarian Response Plan for Gaza and West Bank
Risk 2.1: Operational context
In Gaza there are multiple challenges to addressing chronic gaps in housing,
including access to affordable construction materials which need the
permission of either Israel or Egypt to enter via one of two goods crossings.
After May 2021 conflict Israel closed its crossing at Kerem Shalom for
several months. In the first quarter 2022 construction, fuel and other goods
entering Gaza had either returned to or continued to exceed levels prior to
May 2021 with basic construction materials making up a third of all imports.
Israel also continued to enforce restrictions on goods deemed to have dual
civilian and military use, greatly delaying or prohibiting many materials
needed for reconstruction work. Additionally, there is up to USD20 million
funding shortages for building materials affecting 1800 families (10,000
people). However of major concern are fluctuations in local market prices
including steel which trebled in price. This affected local construction work
and created a gap between original and actual cost estimates which
particularly affected families who received grants to rebuild their damaged
homes.
Risk 2.2: Partner responses and capacities
Protection partners working with shelter partners support vulnerable
families with dignity kits for women and recreational kits for children as well
as applicable child protection and Mental Health and Psychosocial Support
Services (MHPSS) for vulnerable groups. Mine Action partners provide
clearance of damaged sites near and in residential areas and Explosive
Remnants of War (ERW) awareness and risk education. Legal partners
provide legal counselling and/ or assistance for reconstruction and eviction
cases and worked with displaced families to recover/ replace lost
documents (as mentioned above).
Risk 2.3: Humanitarian needs and gaps
More than 1000 families remain displaced due to a funding gap for
reconstruction of homes in multi-story buildings
MHPSS services for families who are still displaced
Dignity and recreational kits for women and children who are still
displaced
Protection Risk 3: Psychological distress and
deterioration in mental health
The opt has one of the highest burdens of mental health issues and
psychological disorders in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, with 54% of
Palestinian boys and 47% of Palestinian girls (aged 6 to 12 years) presenting
emotional and/or behavioural disorders.50
In general the need for MHPSS services in Gaza is on the rise. The ongoing
blockade in the Gaza Strip, the exposure to trauma and violence as a result
of the continuous Israeli hostilities and wars, as well as poverty,
unemployment and dependency on outside aid, have a significant effect on
the mental health and have contributed to high psychological distress.51
Protection partners have further identified violence within Palestinian
families and communities, including domestic violence, harsh corporal
punishment in homes and schools, sexual abuse, early marriage, and child
labor as additional key drivers of the rising need for MHPSS.
Further, the long-term devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and
its toll on the mental health situation of individuals remains, brought on by
violate other rights of affected persons and that meet certain procedural standards ...including
include substantive justification, consultation on alternatives, provision of due process to affected
persons, the right to alternative accommodation and non-discrimination. Furthermore, the former
Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing has described the standards that development-based
evictions must satisfy, to avoid constituting forced evictions and displacement and thus to avoid
violating international law. These standards include the exploration of alternative strategies that do
not create displacement, prohibiting the infliction of homelessness and the provision of adequate
notice for pending evictions.
50 ESCWA socio-economic situation Report 2019, p. 23.
51
Assessment of MHPSS interventions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, UNFPA, August 2021
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