“Carl Skau from WFP and I have just returned from Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, where we spent the entire last week, and I am speaking to you with both hope and concern after this visit.
“This was my fifth visit to the State of Palestine since the war began. For the first time in many months, there are signs that an imperfect, fragile but vital ceasefire is making a difference in the lives of over one million children.
“Since the agreement took hold, we have seen improvements impacting children’s lives. More truckloads of lifesaving aid are entering Gaza, albeit not yet sufficiently to meet the magnitude of needs.
“Commercial goods have reappeared in markets, we saw vegetables, fruits, chicken and eggs. The food security situation has improved, and famine has been reversed. Recreational kits designed to help children deal with their stress and trauma have finally started to reach children who have not played freely in over two years. Food availability has increased significantly in several areas.
“UNICEF and our partners have reached more than 1.6 million people with clean drinking water, we have reached 700,000 people with blankets and winter clothes to help with the cold of winter and we recently managed to restore essential life-saving pediatric intensive care services at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. As people have moved closer to their places of origin, where they’re allowed to do so, their homes almost entirely destroyed, we are there with wash and dignity kits, warm clothing for children and essential health and nutrition services. The second round of a Gaza wide catch-up campaign for routine immunization is currently underway and vaccinating many children who missed these lifesaving vaccines during the war. Since October last year, with the ceasefire, 72 UNICEF-supported nutrition facilities have been established, bringing the total to 196 across the Strip.
“Carl will also speak to what WFP and their partners have achieved since the cease-fire as well. These gains matter. They show what is possible when the fighting pauses, political commitment is sustained and humanitarian access opens.
“But the situation remains extremely precarious and deadly for many children.
“More than 100 children have been reported killed in Gaza since the ceasefire of early October. Despite the progress with food security,100,000 children remain acutely malnourished and require long term care.
“1.3 million people, many of them children, are in urgent need of proper shelter. Families are living in tents and bombed-out buildings, battered by heavy rain, strong winds and freezing temperatures. It really is miserable in those tents. I met parents who are burning scraps of plastic and wood to keep their children warm. Tragically, we received reports of at least 10 children dying of hypothermia since winter started.a
