UNICEF plays key role in helping Gazan children begin new school year

The devastating 50-day conflict has forced the new academic year in the Gaza Strip to begin three weeks late, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said Tuesday, underscoring the serious psychological trauma suffered by the Gazan children.

More than 500 children had died, and more than 3,350 suffered injuries and many others were secluded at home during the fighting between Israelis and militant Hamas, UNICEF spokesman Christophe Boulierac told reporters.

"The resumption of classes is vitally important in the healing process to help children regain a sense of security, normalcy and stability in a safe and familiar environment," Boulierac said.

On the ground, UNICEF is focused on a variety of areas, such as coordinating schools for some 50,000 children who were either displaced by the fighting or whose schools had suffered heavy damage.

Additionally, the agency is repairing and cleaning schools that were used to shelter displaced families.

"About 100 schools of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and one public school had been used as shelters during the bombing," he said.

UNICEF was also planning to rebuild 48 schools this year and 60 more schools next year. In total, 108 out of 132 government-run schools would be repaired -- depending on the funding provided to UNICEF's Back to School campaign.

The Children's Fund will provide 130,000 children with school bags and 230,000 with school stationery and teaching aids as well as assist vulnerable priority families with uniforms and shoes.

To address the psychological trauma suffered by the children, UNICEF is also organizing a week of special recreational sessions for all schools, designed to allow trained staff to identify for specialized support referrals children who had been more seriously traumatized by the conflict.

The campaign underway works within a 16 million-U.S.-dollar budget for this year.

The spokesman said that 525,000 students would return to school, 55,000 of whom were small children attending kindergarten. "UNICEF will help local authorities open 395 schools within the coming weeks and directly support 60,000 children," he said.

According to Jens Laerke for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), "There are still more than 63,000 internally displaced people staying in 29 UNRWA schools in Gaza as a result of the 50-days crisis, but the numbers are fluid."

An estimated 50,000 other displaced people were living with host families.

Humanitarian partners on the ground report that in response to that displacement, more funds were urgently needed to finance a comprehensive support package to support host families, provide rental subsidies, repair minor damages and supply vouchers to purchase non-food items.

While 90 percent of health facilities in Gaza were operational again -- albeit with limited services on some due to damage -- challenges such as electricity shortages, the lack of essential medicines and medical supplies are continuing.

Also on Tuesday, the deputy prime minister of the State of Palestine, Mohammad Mustafa, and UN Humanitarian Coordinator James W. Rawley released the updated Gaza Crisis Appeal, which focuses on addressing the urgent humanitarian needs of Palestinians in Gaza, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters here.

The 2014 Gaza Crisis Appeal requests 551 million U.S. dollars in support of the vulnerable population of the Gaza Strip affected by the conflict, according to Dujarric.