Conflict Resolution Center celebrates the conclusion of the child protection teams project in the Gaza Strip

Gaza, Publication and Information Unit:

The Palestinian Center for Democracy and Conflict Resolution celebrated the conclusion of the child protection teams project funded by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in the Gaza governorates. More than 200 children and the heads of a number of schools in the North Gaza governorate took part in the closing ceremony, attended by a number of partner organisations and associations, at the North hall in the Sheikh Zayed area in the north of the Gaza Strip.
At the start of the celebration, the deputy director general and director of the Gaza branch of the Conflict Resolution Center, Iyad Abu Hjair, stressed that the child protection teams project was able to improve school attainment for the children taking part in it. He praised the continuing partnership with UNICEF in supporting the childhood sector in the Palestinian territories and in ensuring that the best psychological and social services are provided to the young among the Palestinian people.

For his part, the adviser to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Mio Nemoto, valued the achievements the child protection teams project has secured in supporting children amid the difficult circumstances citizens live through in the Gaza Strip. He added: "We celebrate the project's conclusion on the anniversary of Palestinian Child Day, to stress the right of children in Gaza to express their views and claim their rights like the rest of the world's children."

For his part, the head of Al-Rafei Basic School, Ashraf Al-Kurd, spoke about the major role the school plays in producing and refining successive generations within the local community and the need to provide a suitable environment for teaching and raising children. He explained that the education sector will continue to develop children's behaviour and to bear responsibility for rooting the concepts of inclusion, giving and initiative in children and young people.

The celebration included the screening of a documentary film reviewing the project's main achievements over the past years, a puppet and clown item, and a play about the importance of children joining associations and organisations in order to gain experience and develop themselves, in addition to a Palestinian dabke performance and, in closing, the presentation of shields to the guests and certificates of thanks and appreciation to the school heads.

It is worth noting that more than 7,500 people benefited from the child protection teams project at the Palestinian Center for Democracy and Conflict Resolution during 2011-2012 in the Gaza governorates, in addition to a number of counselling, psychological and social services provided to children.