The Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP)
GCMHP is a leading Palestinian non-profit organization founded in 1990 and based in the Gaza Strip. It makes connections between mental health and human rights and aims at delivering high quality mental health services to the Palestinian community of Gaza, through the provision of psychological, clinical and social training and research services. The organization lays a special emphasis on vulnerable groups such as children, women and victims of torture and human rights violations, to who it dedicates special lobbying and advocacy services.
It was established by the renowned psychiatrist Dr. Eyad El Sarrj (1943–2013) to meet the mental health needs of people exposed to violence and the loss of freedom daily. GCMHP is an independent organization non-aligned with factions or governments. It is now headed by Dr. Yasser Abu Jamei.
Much of GCMHP’s work is directed at helping traumatized children, women who are victims of violence, and the victims of torture, which they are able to do through crisis intervention and ongoing services, as well as leading training and coordination of mental health services throughout Gaza.
The GCMHP has dozens of staff members, most of whom were displaced by the latest war which damaged its main headquarters and clinics in various parts of the Gaza Strip. Despite suffering heavy personal losses, the staff has managed to provide mental health services to thousands of people sheltering in schools and tented encampments. See reports about their activities posted on the GCMHP website.
Aisha, Al Zahraa, and Wefaq
The Aisha Association for Woman and Child Protection, the largest of the three, works in Gaza City and the north of the Gaza Strip.
The Al Zahraa Association for Women & Children Development, a small, grassroots organization, is based in the Al Nuseirat Refugee Camp in the middle of the Gaza Strip.
The Wefaq Society for Women & Child Care serves marginalized groups in the southern part of the Gaza Strip (Khan Younis and Rafah).
United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA)
United Nations Relief Work Agency (UNRWA) runs school and supplies services to the more than 70 percent of Gaza’s residents who are refugees. We have supported its mental health and psychosocial program that provides counselors to schools for refugee children.
Since October 7, 2023, UNRWA’s health teams have provided millions of consultations, vaccinated 560,000 children against polio, provided food assistance to almost 2 million people and provided shelter to hundreds of thousands of displaced people. Nearly 200,000 displaced people have received community social work support including psychological first aid and psychological support. At a time when its services are more vitally needed than ever, the Israeli government is threatening to ban its operations.
Anera
Anera provides humanitarian assistance and sustainable development to advance the well-being of refugees and other vulnerable communities in Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan.
We pay tribute to our partner organizations, their staff and their families as they mourn those they have lost.
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