Ref: 42/2023

Date: 31 July 2023

In July, Palestine’s Children Council- Gaza Strip, which is established and supervised by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), held three accountability sessions with ministries and local government bodies, as part of PCHR’s efforts to strengthen children’s participation and accountability in all public interest issues and to realize child rights. The accountability sessions were held at the headquarters of the Water and Environmental Quality Authority, the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MOH), and the Palestinian Ministry of Labor, with the participation of 25 children from the council members across the Gaza Strip’s governorates.

The sessions addressed the duties and responsibilities of various local government bodies to realize child rights ensured by domestic laws and international conventions. During the sessions, the children questioned representatives of ministries on public interest issues, such as policies and strategies taken to reduce the impact of climate change on water and the environment, the quality of health services, MOH’s mechanisms to follow- up citizens’ complaints, and the oversight of commercial and industrial facilities to reduce child labor.

The first session was held at the headquarters of the Water and Environmental Quality Authority, in the presence of the Awareness and Guidance Department’s Director, Eng. Khaled Abu Ghali. The session focused on the Water and Environmental Quality Authority’s efforts in applying policies and strategies to reduce the impact of climate change on the water and environmental sector in the Gaza Strip. During the session, the Palestine’s Children Council suggested that officials at the Water and Environmental Quality Authority should pay attention to raise environmental awareness and develop real mechanisms to follow up environmentally harmful practices in order to reduce water and environmental pollution in the Gaza Strip.

The second session was held with the MOH, attended by the Director General of the MOH, Dr. Munir Al-Barsh; Deputy Director General of Hospitals, Dr. Ayman Al-Farra; MOH’s Legal Advisor, Mr. Saeed Al-Batta; and Head of Complaints Department, Dr. Sami Abu Aziz. The Session tackled with the quality of health services provided to children, the mechanism for dealing with various health issues, including the legal procedure followed by the MOH in the event of medical errors, as well as the results of MOH’s efforts in diversifying systems of receiving complaints and inquiries from citizens, and following them up in normal and emergency times.

The Palestine’s Children Council also organized an accountability session with the representatives of the Ministry of Labor, in the presence of the Director of the Work Conditions Department, Mr. Hussein Haboush, and Mr. Mohammad Sabbah from the General Awareness Department. A discussion was held on the Ministry of Labor’s role in supervising commercial and industrial facilities to confront child labor, and the Ministry of Labor’s follow-up of youth employment aged 15-18 years. During the session, it was agreed to hold an extensive discussion session attended by all parties concerned with child labor file to reach accurate information and put forward clear oversight solutions to prevent child labor.