Ref: 39/2023

Date: 3 July 2023

On Saturday, 01 July 2023, Palestine’s Children Council– Gaza Strip, under the supervision of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), organized a solidarity event targeting 34 children in conflict with the law at Al-Rabeea for Social Care Centre.

This initiative is a part of a project to strengthen child participation in writing reports, child rights monitoring and accountability. The project, which is implemented by PCHR, is funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) in partnership with Save the Children and in coordination with community organizations.

This initiative was organized during ‘Eid Al-Adha to entertain children in conflict with the law and to provide them with psychological and social support in line with the Palestine’s Children Council’s objectives that aim to alleviate the psychological and social problems these children face under dire conditions. Moreover, the characteristics of this category render it more vulnerable to psychological and health crises, so more attention and care should be considered.

The event gave an overview of children’s fundamental rights in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, particularly the right to health, care and treatment, and the procedures in juvenile courts. Also, the children at al-Rabee’ Center talked about the problems they face as victims of the social environment where they grew up. Moreover, several recreational and psychological support activities were held, and members of Palestine’s ChildrenCouncil-Gaza Strip gave out gifts to the juveniles.

As part of the event, a roundtable discussion was organized with Mr. Moa’taz Dughmush, Director of Social Defense at the Ministry of Social Development in the Gaza Strip, to learn more about the conditions of the juveniles at the center and the latter’s commitment to its mandate regarding the social, living, health and psychological care as well as provision of protection, guidance and counselling. They also discussed the basic requirements children at the center need to enjoy a decent life and the center’s ability to assume its role, provide a safe environment that enables children to enjoy their rights ensured by law, and give primary consideration to the best interests of the child.

At the end of the event, the Palestine Children’s Council – Gaza Strip called for the following:

• Promoting the principle of the best interests of the child as stipulated in Article 3 of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child; primary consideration shall be given to the best interests of the child to preserve their rights and ensure them their needs of care and attention.
• urging the Ministry of Social Development to pay more attention by taking the necessary measures to enable al-Rabee Center to carry out its tasks and provide it with qualified cadres to deal with children and provide them with care.
• Aligning domestic legislations and laws with the international standards and rules for the protection of juveniles deprived of their liberty.

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Al-Rabeea for Social Care Centre (Juvenile Centre) is a governmental institution affiliated to the Ministry of Social Development, concerned with care for children in conflict with the law, aged between 12-18 years. It is the only institution for juvenile care in the Gaza Strip, aiming at providing care for children in conflict with the law away from public prisons, protecting them from the negative influences where children grew up, and bringing about the necessary change and improvement to the social conditions of the child’s family, as well as replacing child’s negative behaviors with positive ones towards the community and providing an appropriate environment that helps restore the child’s psychological and social balance and integration into the society.