“A generation has been traumatized,” says Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.
The UNEP has estimated that clearing the debris and explosive remnants from the ongoing genocide in Gaza could take 21 years. However, the psychological scars of such extreme violence and trauma are likely to last a lifetime. Even before the 2023 genocide began, over 800,000 children in Gaza—three-quarters of its child population—were identified as needing mental health and psychosocial support. By July 2024, UNICEF reports that nearly every one of Gaza’s 1.2 million children now requires urgent psychological care. With one in every 50 people killed by Israel over the past 15 months—a figure that human rights groups believe to be far higher—almost every individual in Gaza is mourning the loss of at least one family member, many having lost entire neighborhoods. At the same time, they are enduring the trauma of war and injury, with one in 20 people wounded by Israeli attacks (ReliefWeb).
While international organizations emphasize the critical need for physical rehabilitation—an estimated 22,500 individuals in Gaza now live with life-altering injuries (WHO)—the psychological toll demands just as much urgency. Both adults and children are facing severe anxiety, suicidal thoughts, and regressive behaviors, among a host of other mental health challenges (ReliefWeb).
Mothers of Hind is working to address this crisis by establishing a psychotherapist network that will connect external specialists with those providing care on the ground. Building on the Mothers of Hind School Series, after school hours, we aim to transform school premises into hubs for psychological support, where psychotherapists can receive training and access internet connectivity to strengthen their capacity.
Join us in these efforts. Your donation to the Makeshift School Projects will help create essential training spaces for psychotherapists on the ground, ensuring sustained mental health support for Gaza’s most vulnerable.
