UN health partners have expanded basic services in recent days. As part of a catch-up vaccination campaign launched last week, more than 6,000 children under three years of age have received vaccines to protect against preventable diseases.
daily bread
On food security, the UN and its partners are providing daily bread rations to at least 43 percent of the population, either free or at a heavily subsidized price of less than $1 for a two-kilogram package.
This assistance is complemented by monthly distributions of wheat flour to households, which reached 1.2 million people this month.
Accommodation and winter support have also increased. Over the past week, humanitarian partners delivered tents, tarps, isolation kits, mattresses and blankets to more than 7,500 families, while 1,400 children received winter clothing.
“Since Wednesday, our partners have reached more than 2,300 families with cash vouchers and in-kind support for winter preparedness. They have also provided psychosocial and mental health support and case management assistance to hundreds of people,” Dujarric said.
More than a million people still need urgent shelter support, Dujarric said, underscoring the need for longer-term solutions such as home repair tool kits, community heating spaces and teams to remove rubble and rubble.
An entire generation at risk
Children continue to be among the most affected. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the war has erased years of educational progress.
“Nearly two and a half years of attacks on education in Gaza have left an entire generation at risk,” said UNICEF spokesperson James Elder.
About 60 percent of school-aged children do not have access to in-person learning and more than 90 percent of schools have been damaged or destroyed.
UNICEF is expanding its Return to Learn program to reach 336,000 children this year through temporary learning centers that also connect children to health, nutrition and sanitation services.
Elder also highlighted the urgent need to reopen the Rafah border crossing, calling it a “lifeline” for medical evacuations, family reunification and essential services.
He said families across Gaza remain “desperate” for the crossing to reopen, and warned that prolonged closures are worsening humanitarian suffering.