Weekly Highlights: MoSD Expands Support for Vulnerable Families and Regulates Social Professions
Ramallah – Over the past week, the Ministry of Social Development, led by Minister Dr. Samah Hamad, who also serves as Acting Minister of State for Relief Affairs, continued its developmental and humanitarian efforts through a series of strategic meetings and targeted interventions aimed at strengthening the social protection system and addressing the urgent needs of vulnerable groups amid ongoing aggression and worsening conditions on the ground.
As part of these efforts, Dr. Hamad held a key meeting with the Bayt Mal Al-Quds Agency to discuss the implementation of a project providing prosthetic limbs to children injured in Gaza, along with psychological and social support for persons with disabilities. The meeting also covered the expansion of humanitarian response efforts in northern West Bank areas, particularly in the refugee camps of Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams.
The Minister also met with representatives from the International Labour Organization (ILO) to explore ways of enhancing cooperation on current and future joint projects aligned with the Ministry’s priorities for economic empowerment and expanded social protection services. The ILO reaffirmed its commitment to supporting programs that serve the most vulnerable populations.
In the context of governmental coordination, Dr. Hamad participated in a session of the Governmental Emergency Operations Room at the Prime Minister’s Office, where she stressed that famine in Gaza is now a grim reality, with available food supplies insufficient to meet families' basic needs. She called for urgent action to secure minimum living requirements and emphasized the need for strengthened coordination to ensure equitable and systematic distribution of aid through the National Social Registry.
On the institutional development front, the Ministry, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), organized a national workshop to discuss the draft regulation for the governance of social professions. The workshop brought together representatives from professional unions, universities, and governmental and civil society institutions. Dr. Hamad affirmed that the regulation is a critical step in organizing the profession of social counseling, which constitutes a significant portion of the Ministry’s workforce. She highlighted the importance of a legal framework that ensures service quality and professional equity.
Across the governorates, the Ministry’s directorates continued implementing impactful interventions. In Tulkarm, a temporary employment program for 35 displaced workers was concluded in cooperation with the Ministry of Labour, aimed at bolstering social protection and easing economic pressures.
In Tubas, the directorate received food parcels from the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF) for orphaned families, while the Child Protection Network delivered psychological support training in cooperation with World Vision to enhance the mental well-being of frontline workers.
In Bethlehem, the directorate organized a recreational day for 300 orphans and 50 children with disabilities at Battir Resort, supported by the “Multamin A Khair” Association. The activity formed part of the psychosocial support program to promote inclusion and relieve stress among vulnerable children.
In Jericho, the Child Protection Network held an awareness session in partnership with the Manara Center under the "Creative Nagharish" program, to raise children’s awareness of their rights and encourage constructive family dialogue. The directorate also held a training workshop for kindergarten teachers in collaboration with Civil Defense on fire safety and emergency preparedness to ensure a safe environment for children.
Despite the challenges, the Ministry of Social Development continues to prioritize the equitable delivery of social services and intensifies coordination with local and international partners to ensure a comprehensive and effective humanitarian response that meets the evolving needs of Palestinian society during this critical time.
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On the International Day for the Elimination of Child Marriage, MoSD Affirms: Protecting Girls Begins with Education, Protection, & Family Empowerment
Ramallah – On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Child, Early and Forced Marriage, the Ministry of Social Development emphasized that child marriage cannot be addressed in isolation from the broader social protection system, as it is linked to multiple factors, including poverty, school dropout, domestic violence, loss of parental care, displacement, and weakened protection networks. The Ministry explained that its role includes protecting children and girls at risk, providing case management, family interventions, psychosocial support, and referral services, and connecting families with assistance, essential services, and economic empowerment programmes. It also coordinates with relevant authorities when the safety of a child or girl is at risk. The Ministry places the best interests of the child and protection from exploitation and abuse at the heart of its child protection services. The Ministry stressed that preventing early marriage also requires protecting families from poverty and economic shocks, supporting girls' continued access to education, raising awareness of their rights, and strengthening families' ability to cope with pressures without resorting to practices that may expose girls to long-term physical, psychological, and social risks. The issue is particularly concerning in the Gaza Strip, where the Ministry warned that the loss of parental care, displacement, extreme poverty, and the declining capacity of extended families to provide care and protection increase children's vulnerability to various forms of exploitation, including early marriage. In this context, the Ministry continues to work with local and international organizations involved in child and women's protection to strengthen early intervention, referral pathways, alternative care, and psychosocial support, alongside assistance to the most vulnerable families to reduce the risk factors that may contribute to early marriage. The Ministry called for child marriage to be addressed as a child protection and human rights issue requiring coordinated action among families and social, educational, health, and legal institutions. It also called for increased investment in girls' education, protection, and empowerment to safeguard their right to grow, learn, and make decisions about their future freely and safely.
On World Children's Day, MoSD: Palestinian Children Face Harsh Realities of Loss, Displacement, Violence, & Deprivation
Ramallah – On the occasion of World Children's Day, observed annually on 20 November, the Ministry of Social Development emphasized that Palestinian children are facing extremely harsh conditions amid the continuing consequences of the Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip and escalating attacks, displacement, home demolitions, and movement restrictions in the West Bank, including Jerusalem. These conditions have deprived children of their lives, families, shelter, education, care, and safety. According to available United Nations data, at least 21,700 children have been killed in the Gaza Strip, while approximately 45,000 have been injured, including more than 11,000 children who have sustained life-altering injuries. Meanwhile, thousands of families continue to experience repeated displacement and deprivation of essential services. In the West Bank, including Jerusalem, children continue to face attacks, forced displacement of families, and damage to schools, homes, and infrastructure. More than 1,700 children have been displaced since the beginning of 2026 as a result of settler violence, movement restrictions, and demolitions. The Ministry stressed that the consequences of war and occupation extend beyond immediate casualties to include bereavement, family separation, hunger, school dropout, child labour, violence, exploitation, acquired disabilities, and psychological and social distress. These risks require a comprehensive and long-term child protection response. The Ministry explained that child protection is a central pillar of its work, implemented through Child Protection Departments in its directorates. These departments receive reports, assess levels of risk, provide case management and family follow-up, facilitate referrals to specialized services, and intervene in cases of violence, abuse, exploitation, and neglect. Their responsibilities also include protecting children engaged in labour or begging, children who have dropped out of school, and children in conflict with the law, in coordination with relevant government authorities and partner organizations. In the Gaza Strip, children's protection and care needs have intensified significantly, particularly among orphans, children deprived of parental care, separated and unaccompanied children, and those requiring psychosocial support. In cooperation with its partners, the Ministry is working to provide alternative care, social follow-up, sponsorship programmes, psychological support, and food, health, and in-kind assistance, while strengthening and restoring child protection services across the Gaza Strip. The Ministry emphasized that protecting children is inseparable from protecting their families. Accordingly, child protection services form part of a broader social protection system encompassing food, cash, and non-food assistance, health insurance, education, school bags and stationery, psychosocial support, services for persons with disabilities, and family economic empowerment. These interventions aim to reduce the risks associated with poverty, displacement, loss of income, and family instability. The Ministry of Social Development called on the international community, United Nations agencies, humanitarian organizations, and donors to provide sustainable support for the Palestinian child protection system. It urged continued funding for alternative care programmes, orphan sponsorship, psychosocial support, education, nutrition, and rehabilitation, alongside support for Palestinian national institutions capable of reaching children and families and ensuring sustained follow-up. The Ministry concluded by emphasizing that World Children's Day cannot be merely an occasion for celebration while Palestinian children are deprived of their most fundamental rights. It stressed that protecting children begins with safeguarding their right to life and extends to ensuring their rights to family care, shelter, food, education, healthcare, protection, and social support.
