A meeting bringing together the Ministry of Social Affairs and Al-Rabee Association

The Palestinian Center for Democracy and Conflict Resolution held a meeting bringing together the Ministry of Social Affairs and Al-Rabee Association for the Care of Juveniles at the Centre's main premises in Gaza on the seventh of March this year. The meeting aimed at strengthening cooperation between the Centre and Al-Rabee Association by identifying children's special needs and providing them with psychological, social and legal support.

Mr. Iyad Abu Hjair, director of the Gaza branch, highlighted the main activities and services the Centre provides to protect and help children, such as the project "Protecting children from sexual harassment and exploitation", which aims at providing psychological, social and legal services to the victims of sexual assault, in addition to making parents aware of how dangerous it is to conceal this subject, through awareness and guidance sessions.

Mr. Abu Hjair added that the project for supporting and empowering women victims of violence aims at providing psychological, social and legal intervention for them, in addition to establishing a family meeting point that aims at receiving the children of separated parents for visits under the rulings issued by the sharia courts.

For his part, lawyer Younis Al-Tahrawi spoke about the need for courts dedicated to juveniles, through cooperation with the competent bodies.
Mr. Ismail Tanira, head of the social defence authority, confirmed that despite the poor conditions the Strip is going through, they are working hard to set up a court dedicated to juveniles as quickly as possible.

At the end of the meeting, Mr. Abu Hjair called for holding another meeting to discuss the final wording of the memorandum of understanding concluded between the two sides at a later date, and for holding dedicated courses to discuss the main issues concerning juveniles.