Fueled by youth’s hope, determination, and dedication: SDF launches a sophisticated project to enhance education and wellbeing of children and adolescents
After over 10 months of genocidal war, displacement, and disrupted education, youth stepped up with through the project of “Youth Networks Collaborating Toward Enhanced Educational and Well-being Opportunities for Children and Adolescents”. This project is implemented in the Gaza Strip by the Social Developmental Forum (SDF) in partnership with UNICEF and the Youth Advisory Panel (YAP).
Why now?
The project aims to engage children and adolescents in educational settings and reduce the academic gap caused by the prolonged disruption of education since October 2023. The project is implemented through an interactive, youth-centered approach, aiming to improve access to informal education, raise awareness about violence and protection issues, and enhance children’s skills.
Through the project, Safe Learning Spaces (SLSs) will be established all over the Gaza Strip. A dedicated youth network will be launched to foster youth’s role in supporting educational and recreational activities for adolescents and children.
A Year-Long Program all over the Gaza Strip
The project was launched in May 2024 and is expected to run for a full calendar year to establish SLSs and hubs in three segments: the southern Gaza Strip, the Middle area, and the northern area.
SLSs target children aged (9 to 13), adolescents (14 to 17), and displaced Palestinian families.
Teaching Staff and Youth Network
The project started with a series of interviews to select teachers who would join the teaching staff to lead the learning sessions. Eighteen teachers were selected across the three targeted segments, majoring in Arabic, English, and mathematics: six teachers for each subject.
Along with the highly skilled teaching staff, the project includes a genuine youth network that will lead various educational initiatives and training sessions targeting displaced children, adolescents, and youth.
The network has been named “Together Towards Hope (T4H)” which consists of 20 young leaders (Females and Males) who have been competitively selected through an interview process. T4H members will lead training sessions for their peers along with educational initiatives in designated SLSs.
A Safe Space in a positive atmosphere
Through devoting engaging methods and insightful initial psychological support activities, We aim to enhance children and adolescents’ access to education to bridge the academic gap resulting from the war on Gaza, and to foster their mindfulness.
Angham Mattar, Social Developmental Forum, project coordinator
“Extremely positive,” Matta described the learning atmosphere at the SLSs. She adds: “Everyone is eager to move one. After enduring traumatic events beyond their age, children are excited about resuming their education, and youth are thrilled to lead educational initiatives. Teachers have done a brilliant job kicking off the first learning session in an interactive way.”
Destructed Education
This project is implemented amid an ongoing Israeli genocidal war that has intentionally targeted the education system, halting student learning by targeting schools, teachers, and educational infrastructure.
The ongoing war has deprived 800,000 students of their right to education and made 85% of educational facilities out of service due to direct and deliberate targeting, posing a significant challenge to efforts to resume education post-war.
By June 2024, Israeli Occupational Forces had entirely destroyed 110 schools and universities and partially damaged 321 educational facilities. According to the Public Media Office in Gaza, the IOF had claimed the lives of more than 10,000 students,