Deadly Heat Endangers Children in Gaza Strip
Dangerously high temperatures are adding yet another layer of suffering for children in the Gaza Strip. Displaced from their homes, living in crowded camps without reliable access to safe water, toilets or washing facilities, families are struggling to survive. UNICEF is there to help.
A dire humanitarian crisis gets worse
As waves of scorching heat engulf much of the northern hemisphere, Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip are facing punishingly high temperatures on top of the traumatic effects of war, including ongoing bombardment, multiple displacements and a lack of access to basic necessities.
"People are moving with nothing and moving to places where there is nothing," UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a recent interview. Safe water for drinking and bathing, shelter, sanitation and adequate health care are all in short supply, putting children's lives at risk.
The smell is very bad. I am 12 years old. How can I handle this? Everyone here is sick. — Doaa, Al Mawasi
Children and families living alongside waste dumps are exposed to dangerous health risks. "The smell is very bad. I am 12 years old," said Doaa in Al Mawasi, on Gaza's southern coast. "How can I handle this? Everyone here is sick."
UNICEF is working with partners to support health care and water and sanitation services, including delivering water in tanker trunks, distributing supplies including water bottles and collapsible water containers, collecting solid waste and constructing emergency latrines.
UNICEF and partners deliver urgently needed water to children and families in Gaza
On July 9, 14-year-old Malak joined a crowd of people filling bottles of water from a UNICEF-supported water tank in Deir Al Balah, central Gaza Strip. "All my concern is how to get water and how to escape the heat in the tent. I miss drinking a glass of clean water in my house," she said. “I wish the war ends so I can go back to my school. I have lost my childhood in this war."
I wish for basic rights, like bathing daily or drinking clean water. I hope my daughter Aseel grows up to live a dignified life where she can easily find clean water. — Manar, Deir Al Balah
"The situation gets worse day by day,” said Manar, mother of 1-year-old Aseel. “The water crisis hinders our lives, especially in this hot weather. I bathe once every three weeks because of the lack of water.”
“I wish for basic rights, like bathing daily or drinking clean water," Manar added. "I hope my daughter Aseel grows up to live a dignified life where she can easily find clean water."
Heat stress a growing health risk for children worldwide
Heat waves are becoming longer, stronger and more widespread as the climate crisis accelerates. By 2050, virtually every child in the world — more than 2 billion children — is forecast to face more frequent heat waves.
Young children are uniquely vulnerable to the effects of extreme heat, which translates as heat stress in their bodies. The younger the child, the more vulnerable they are to the health impacts of disease and illnesses related to heat stress.
Heat exposure has acute effects on children, even before they are born, and can result in pre-term births, low birth weight, stillbirth and congenital anomalies. Complications of pre-term birth, in particular, are the largest contributors to neonatal deaths. Heat extremes are also linked to higher mortality rates in infants, particularly newborns.
Every child has the right to a safe and healthy childhood. Wherever children are in need, UNICEF is there to help. Your contribution can make a difference. Please donate today.
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War, famine, poverty, natural disasters — threats to the world's children keep coming. But UNICEF won't stop working to keep children healthy and safe.
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