Ref: 12/2022
Date: 06 April 2022
On Tuesday, 05 April 2022, the Palestinian National Children Council- Gaza Strip supervised by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) organized a solidarity activity to support children with cancer and kidney failure at al-Rantisi Pediatric Hospital in Gaza City. This is part of an initiative launched by the Council’s Secretary to celebrate the Palestinian Child Day, observed on the 5th of April each year.
Before the launch, the Secretary reviewed its initiative in a meeting with Mr. Raji Sourani, PCHR’s Director, at PCHR’s head office in Gaza City, and the latter praised the Council’s efforts in promoting and supporting children’s rights. He congratulated them on the occasion of the Palestinian Child Day and emphasized that PCHR attaches great importance to children’s rights in its work and has intensified its efforts to support the Palestinian National Children Council. Sourani hoped that one day Palestinian children would enjoy a better reality and a brighter future, where all their rights are fulfilled.
During the event, children-members of the Council stood in solidarity and raised banners to express their support to cancer and kidney failure patients, through written slogans calling for promoting child’s right to health and adequate medical care. The Council’s children-members visited all inpatient children receiving treatment at the hospital’s Oncology and Dialysis Departments. The visit aimed at learning children’s problems and sufferings and show solidarity and support for their right to health and adequate medical treatment. Also, gifts were distributed to the children at the hospital, and psychological support activities were held by the Palestinian National Children Council’s Secretary in the Gaza Strip.
Mr. Hasan al-Rafati, Head of Public Relations and Media Department at Abdel-Aziz Rantisi Specialist Hospital, and Dr. Mahmoud Shubair, Director of Hematology and Oncology Department at the hospital received and welcomed the Palestine’s National Children Council at the only department that provides cancer treatment for under 12-year-old children in the Gaza Strip. Dr. Shubair explained the nature of the department’s work and services provided for sick children, adding that the department only provides chemotherapy and supportive therapy for cancer patients, so they are forced to complete their treatment abroad due to the lack of diagnostic tools and poor capabilities, in addition to the lack of the standard treatment protocols;
most prominently radiotherapy. In response to the Palestine’s National Children Council’s inquiries, Dr. Shubair addressed the suffering of critically-ill children throught the treatment process, due to restrictions on their freedom of movement at crossings, and the prolonged measures for obtaining medical referral. He added that a lot of children lost their lives while waiting to travel for treatment in hospitals in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem.
The Palestine’s National Children Council- Gaza Strip was established in 2021, under the supervision of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) and in partnership with Save the Children. The council is a small and non-governmental body comprising children aged 12-17, representing the five governorates of the Gaza Strip. It aims to promote the genuine participation of Palestinian children in all issues related to their lives and empower them in order to improve and shed light on the status of children’s rights.
