The Gaza Children Want
For the past two years, Gaza’s children have been spoken about endlessly. Their deaths and injuries reported. Their suffering described. But what has been less visible is something far simpler and incredibly important: their own voices. That is why UNICEF launched “The Gaza We Want” initiative.
The Gaza We Want captures children’s perspectives on recovery and reconstruction in the Gaza Strip, addressing a critical gap: what children in Gaza want for their own futures. By documenting children’s priorities and views, the initiative helps inform child-centered recovery, reconstruction, and policy planning, while reinforcing the importance of meaningful, ongoing child participation in decisions about Gaza’s future.
Children were invited to express themselves in the forms they prefer and use naturally: drawings of neighborhoods and parks, models made from rubble and recycled materials, poems, short stories and letters. They also participated through group murals, plays, and simple surveys supported by trained facilitators. Through the Gaza We Want initiative, children are telling not only what they lost, but what must come next.
Read the report
Ceasefire in Gaza
After two years of relentless bombardment, deprivation and unimaginable loss, the ceasefire in Gaza offers long-overdue hope. But the needs of children are immense. More than 64,000 Palestinian children have been reported killed or injured. Severe malnutrition remains a deadly threat, with the entire population under five at risk of acute malnutrition. Homes lie in ruins, schools have been reduced to rubble and essential infrastructure has been devastated.
The road to recovery will be long and complex, but this ceasefire offers a fragile but vital opportunity to reach children and families with urgently needed lifesaving aid. UNICEF is on the ground, scaling up our response to deliver nutrition, medicine, clean water, warm clothing, and shelter to those in need. But we urgently need your help to reach more children and families.
UNICEF has never stopped delivering for children in Gaza. Throughout these devastating months, we have provided vital aid — from water and medical supplies to psychosocial support — and we will continue to do so. But to reach every child in need, we must have full, safe and unimpeded access to our supplies and the families who depend on them.
On 10 October 2025, a child walks among thousands of Palestinian families who are moving along the coastal road back to northern Gaza, amid the extreme devastation of infrastructure.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains catastrophic
– Mass Displacement: Nearly 1.9 million people (85% of the population) have been displaced, with families sheltering in overcrowded, makeshift facilities lacking reliable access to food, clean water, and medical care.
– Nutrition Crisis: The entire child population under five – over 320,000 children – is at risk of acute malnutrition.
– Healthcare Collapse: Over 80% of health facilities are non-functional, severely limiting access to medical services.
– Water & Sanitation Breakdown: Widespread damage to water and sanitation infrastructure has left much of the population without safe drinking water, increasing the risk of disease outbreaks.
– Education Crisis: 95% of schools have been partially or completely destroyed, depriving hundreds of thousands of children of education and stability.
– Winter Threat: Approaching winter will worsen conditions, especially for children who lack adequate shelter, clothing, and heating.
Supplies are off-loaded at a UNICEF warehouse in Deir Al Balah, Central Gaza, State of Palestine, on 13 October 2025, after the arrival of UNICEF trucks carrying life-saving nutrition, shelter and hygiene items.
UNICEF supports a child- and youth-focused recovery in Gaza
Humanitarian shipments have increased nearly 300 percent since early October, with over 4,500 pallets of Gaza aid delivered weekly. By Dec. 31, 2025, as part of its emergency winter response, UNICEF had successfully delivered almost 1 million thermal blankets and more than 290,000 winter clothing kits, including insulated footwear, to keep children in Gaza warm and safe from heavy rains and bitterly cold temperatures.
UNICEF and partners have expanded primary health care services, including immunization, in particular to completely unserved North Gaza, as people try to move home. In November 2025, the first round of a vaccination catch-up campaign successfully protected over 14,000 children under age 3 against measles, mumps and rubella, diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, hepatitis B, tuberculosis, polio, rotavirus and pneumonia. The second round is taking place in January. Meanwhile, 70 new nutrition facilities have been added across Gaza. Starvation is still a harsh reality in Gaza, and nearly every child under 5 faces severe malnutrition.
UNICEF’s work in Gaza goes far beyond the delivery of aid parcels
We repair water wells and sewage systems, provide fuel to desalination plants, and deliver safe water via trucks since water networks have been largely destroyed.
Our nutrition programmes include not only therapeutic food but also malnutrition screening, and breastfeeding counselling for mothers.
We provide humanitarian cash transfers to help tackle hunger even when aid access is limited, giving vulnerable families the purchasing power and dignity to buy food and essentials in a highly volatile market.
We have delivered obstetric and trauma kits, installed incubators and ventilators in neonatal intensive care units, and supported maternal and newborn health services through training and supervision.
We lead on the planning and delivery of major routine immunisation campaigns to protect children in Gaza against deadly diseases like polio and diphtheria.
Despite the devastation, we have also established temporary learning centres, offering children access to play, learning, and psychosocial support.
The scale of need is staggering, but no matter the challenges, UNICEF is on the ground in Gaza doing all we can and we never give up.
It is the support of our donors that enables us to continue this vital work under the most difficult circumstances.
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Contact Our Teams Directly
Corporate Partnership Team
For businesses looking to support children in Gaza, please contact [email protected] or donate today.
Philanthropy Team
If you or your family office would like to support children in Gaza, please contact Donna Marie O’Donovan, Head of Philanthropy: [email protected] or refer to the donation box below.
Why UNICEF?
UNICEF has been supporting children and families on the ground in the State of Palestine for decades.
The sheer scale of our infrastructure and long-term development work for children means that we are uniquely positioned to respond rapidly and effectively to these crises.
With a vast global procurement and distribution network, including the largest humanitarian warehouse in the world, UNICEF is equipped to respond rapidly with lifesaving supplies and support.
Sustainable interventions are important because crises are not one-time shocks; their impact can last for years. UNICEF’s humanitarian action takes a cross-sectoral approach that includes health, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), child protection, education, psychosocial support.
Non-political and impartial, we are never neutral when it comes to defending children’s rights and safeguarding their lives and futures.
And we never give up.