GAZA, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), Over two years of unrelenting Israeli aggression and displacement have pushed children and young people in the Gaza Strip into what the UN has described as a “profound mental health emergency,” with girls facing heightened risks.
“We have more than one million children in Gaza who need mental health and psychosocial support services,” Sima Alami, adolescent and youth program officer at the UN agency for sexual and reproductive health, UNFPA, told UN News recently.
According to UNFPA data cited by Alami, 96 per cent of children in Gaza feel that death is imminent. “This reflects the depth of fear and trauma they experience daily,” she stressed.
Among adolescents and youth, often overlooked in humanitarian crises, the psychological toll is equally severe. Some 61 per cent suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 38 per cent from depression and 41 per cent from anxiety. “Alarmingly, one in five adults contemplates suicide almost daily,” she added.
“This is not merely psychological distress,” Alami emphasized. “It is a widespread mental health emergency.”
Within this crisis, girls are also among the most vulnerable. In Gaza, child marriage, which was previously on the decline, has resurged sharply. Rates had fallen from 25.5 percent in 2009 to 11 percent in 2022, but are now rising again as families struggle to survive, according to the UN official.
A recent UNFPA study found that 71 percent of respondents in Gaza reported increased pressure to marry girls under 18. In a short monitoring period alone, more than 400 marriage licenses were issued for girls aged 14 to 16 in emergency courts, but the figures are likely underreported.
“Some families see marriage as a survival strategy amid displacement, poverty and insecurity,” Alami explained. Others believe it offers protection in overcrowded shelters or helps ease economic hardship following the collapse of livelihoods.
She highlighted the need for integrated responses linking psychosocial support with food, health and education services in Gaza.
