CrossFireArabia
“My kite flew above the tent… I felt like it was lifting me away from all sadness” — eight-year-old Amatullah*.
In acute emergencies like the war in Gaza, Early Childhood Development (ECD) plays a critical role in protecting children’s well-being and sense of normalcy. Since the onset of the escalation, the IRC and local partners have launched a flexible, play-based ECD response to meet the urgent developmental and psychosocial needs of young children and their caregivers.
With over 650,000 children currently out of school across Gaza, access to safe, supportive environments for early learning is more critical than ever. Since January 2024, our ECD programming has reached more than 22,000 children, offering joyful and structured activities in shelters, mobile kindergartens, and community spaces.
“For the first time in a long while, I played like this… I forgot about the war for a bit.” — Sara Abu*
Under the UBS-funded initiative Hope Through Learning and Play, the program is implemented in Gaza by our local partner, Save Youth Future Society using adapted ECD content from Ahlan Simsim and Preschool Healing Classrooms. This partnership has supported over 4,400, specifically displaced children – navigate grief, express emotions, and reconnect through play.
Learn more about the crisis in Gaza.
*Pseudnym used for privacy
- The International Rescue Committee responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC works in more than 40 countries and in 28 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future, and strengthen their communities.
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