State of Palestine

UNICEF in the State of Palestine was an early contributor to the development of the Adolescent Kit, and field-tested activity guides and other resources through their Adolescent Development and Participation programmes in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Responding to the crisis in the Gaza Strip that began in October 2023, UNICEF in the State of Palestine’s ADAP team collaborated with the UNICEF’s Adolescent Development and Participation team at HQ, Middle East and North Africa Regional Office and partner organization the Global Youth Refugee Network (GRYN), to adapt and implement key materials from the Adolescent Kit to provide immediate mental health and psychosocial support to children, adolescents, and youth affected by conflict and displacement in that region. The teams co-developed a short guidance and packet of selected energizers, activity guides, and inspiration cards from the Adolescent Kit for use by UNICEF implementing partners in the Gaza strip to lead activities with displaced children, adolescents, and families, even as many of the facilitators themselves are also affected and living in the same shelters. The adapted packet, available in both English and Arabic, is being disseminated directly to UNICEF in SoP implementing partners via mobile devices and printed for distribution in hard copy.

Building on this initiative to provide immediate support to children and adolescents in the short term, UNICEF in SoP is also exploring possibilities for ongoing use of the Adolescent Kit in the evolving situation in the State of Palestine to provide long-term mental health and psychosocial support to Palestinian adolescents in secondary schools, and to support adolescents in developing essential skills and engaging as agents of change in their communities as soon as the situation makes longer-term interventions possible.