Supporting emergency mental health in the West Bank

oPt | 2024 | CBPF

Occupied Palestinian territory, West Bank. Shatha Greifat is a mother and a nurse, living in Nour Shams refugee camp in Northern West Bank.

Alongside the ongoing war in Gaza, violence has surged in the West Bank, including operations carried out by Israeli forces in Shatha’s own neighbourhood. Her young children are frightened, and her work in front-line health care is more stressful than ever.

Medical Aid for Palestinians, a local organization, provided mental health and psychosocial support services in a programme funded by the oPt Humanitarian Fund.

“I needed to learn how to take care of myself… to help myself, my children, and the patients I see every day,” Shatha told OCHA, reflecting on the situation and on her participation in the programme.

The initiative allowed Shatha and other affected people to access mental health care through Psychological First Aid Sessions, workshops, and a care kit for children.

Shatha explained that the care kit gave her children games and activities to do during difficult periods, like an operation carried out by Israeli forces in the camp in April this year. Shatha used the kit, as well as what she had learned, to help her children share their emotions and develop ways of coping.

Projects like MAP’s initiative are crucial in providing families like Shatha’s with mental health and psychosocial support. As violence continues to disrupt lives in the West Bank, this work is vital in helping communities support one another.

Published September 2024

Based on an original story from OCHA: https://www.ochaopt.org/content/mental-health-under-fire-mother-supporting-her-children-amid-traumatizing-armed-raids

More information on the oPt Humanitarian Fund:
https://www.ochaopt.org/page/opt-humanitarian-fund
https://pfdata.unocha.org/

The oPt HF continues to raise funds to support partners via the public CrisisRelief campaign: Help the people of Gaza • (un.org)