Matching the need

Over 6,000 Palestinian children – orphans and children from destitute families – are supported by Interpal, “reflecting a growing need and increasing poverty and deprivation in the region”, according to Jihad Qundil, Interpal’s Head of Finance. “Over 50 percent of our funding goes into the programme with our Orphan Department handling the majority of this work.” Some 3,02,500 children are beneficiaries in the West Bank with around 23,000 in Gaza and a total of 600 in refugee camps in Jordan and Lebanon.

 

The situation is severe everywhere – but acute in Gaza. A recent survey conducted by the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme on children living close to major check points in Khan Younis and Rafah, indicated that 54.6 percent showed signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. More than 50 percent had seen dead or injured people while, in 23 percent of the cases, the dead or injured were family members.

 

Interpal reaches Palestinian children through a network of partner NGO’s, charities and volunteers working against great odds on the ground. They provide, for Interpal, a register of children in urgent need of assistance – and many children then become eligible for Interpal’s ‘sponsorship for a Palestinian child’ programme.

 

“This one to one link, between individual sponsors and a child, is a strong one,” says Jihad Qundil, “and often lasts for years as the child is growing up. Around 106,000 children are currently being sponsored in this way.”

 

Otherwise Interpal’s Children’s Fund also helps needy children by opening and running orphanages, schools and care centres for children from very poor families.