Posted on: 2011
By Save the children
Save the Children presents the major trends of 2010 that affected the rights of children in the occupied Palestinian territory to live, learn and play in freedom and safety.
In 2010, Palestinian children continued to face poverty, violence and threats to basic rights such as education and health. Economic growth obscured widespread aid dependency, particularly in Gaza, and the lack of economic horizons. The ongoing blockade of Gaza has prevented recovery after Israel’s 2008/09 offensive, with housing and infrastructure only nominally rebuilt and children continuing to report the psychological effects of the military operation two years later. In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, children were displaced and their lives disrupted by a rise in demolitions of homes and other structures.
Communities in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem faced continued isolation as a result of the Separation Wall and its related permit regime, internal checkpoints inside the West Bank and other movement and access restrictions.
There were 4.05 million Palestinians living in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT) as of mid-2010—62.1% in the West Bank and 37.9% in Gaza.1 An estimated 1.97 million, or 48.6% of the total population, were under the age of 18 (or an estimated 1.22 million children in the West Bank and 746,630 children in Gaza).2 Over 44 percent (44.4%) of children were refugees.3 In the West Bank, 29% of children were refugees; in Gaza, the percentage was much higher at 67%.4
-The Palestinian economy continued to grow in 2010 (9.3% growth in real GDP up from 6.8% in 2009). Gaza saw significant economic growth (15% up from 1% in 2009) while growth in the West Bank was less dramatic (7.6% down from 8.5% in 2009). The opening of crossings into Gaza allowed for goods to flow to the manufacturing and agricultural sectors. Nevertheless, this economic growth was primarily driven by donor assistance and not viewed as sustainable under current conditions.5
–Unemployment rates went down marginally (23.4% at end 2010, down from 24.8% at end 2009). Unemployment remained higher in Gaza at 37.4% (39.3% in 2009) compared with 16.9% in the West Bank(18.1% in 2009). 6
-In 2010, 31.9% of households in Gaza suffered from poverty compared with 16% of households in the West Bank. Nearly 27 percent (26.9%) of children in the OPT were poor (living in households with income below the national poverty line)—38.4% in Gaza and 19% in the West Bank.7 In Gaza, households that remain above the poverty line are highly vulnerable to becoming poor.8
-52% of households in Gaza faced food insecurity and an additional 13% were vulnerable to food insecurity during the first half of 2010 (compared with 61% in 2009). In rural areas of Gaza, 69% of households faced food insecurity.9
This translates to more than 90,000 children at risk of food insecurity in Gaza.10
– Similar to 2009, 71% of families in Gaza received at least one form of social assistance, mostly in the form of food assistance, which plays a crucial role in alleviating poverty.11 Still, almost one-third of households did not maintain a diet with varied and nutritious foods.12
– In Gaza, 17.8% of primary school students and 12.2% of preparatory school students work to help support their families or pay for school expenses, reported a UN psychosocial study.13
Report´s name: Child Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
By: Save the Children
Year: 2010
Link: http://www.protectingeducation.org
ENDNOTES
1 Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), mid-2010 estimate. Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Child Statistics Series (No. 14), Palestinian Children – Issues and Statistics Annual Report, April 2011.
2 See Press Release, PCBS Issued Child Statistics Report on the Eve of Palestinian Children’s Day, April, 5 2011.
3 Ibid.
4 This is 2009 data. Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Child Statistics Series (No. 14), Palestinian Children – Issues and Statistics Annual Report, April 2011.
5 World Bank, Building the Palestinian State: Sustaining Growth, Institutions, and Service Delivery – Economic Monitoring Report to the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, 13 April 2011.
6 Ibid. See also PCBS Labour Force Survey Q4, Oct-Dec 2010.
7 Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Child Statistics Series (No. 14), Palestinian Children – Issues and Statistics Annual Report, April 2011. See also World Bank, Building the Palestinian State: Sustaining Growth, Institutions, and Service Delivery – Economic Monitoring Report to the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, 13 April 2011.
8 World Bank, Building the Palestinian State: Sustaining Growth, Institutions, and Service Delivery – Economic Monitoring Report to the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, 13 April 2011.
9 OCHA Special Focus, Easing the Blockade – Assessing the Humanitarian Impact on the Population of the Gaza Strip, March 2011.
10 Rough estimate based on calculation of 219,200 households in Gaza with an average size of 6.5 people (PCBS Gaza Strip Census 2007) factoring in 48.6% of the population is children.
11 World Bank, Building the Palestinian State: Sustaining Growth, Institutions, and Service Delivery – Economic Monitoring Report to the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, 13 April 2011.
12 OCHA Special Focus, Easing the Blockade – Assessing the Humanitarian Impact on the Population of the Gaza Strip, March 2011.
13 UNESCO, Psychosocial Assessment of Education in Gaza and Recommendations for Response, Report on the findings of an assessment conducted by Kathleen Kostelny, PhD and Michael Wessells, PhD of the Columbia Group for Children in Adversity, September 2010. Based on a sample of 3,355 students in 60 schools.
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