/ A Help Line for Psychosocial Support

The war that lasted from the end of 2008 into 2009 left a trail of death and destruction in Gaza. The inhabitants of the narrow Gaza-Strip endured attacks by the Israeli army for 24 hours per day with no protection and no possibility of escape. Many suffered traumatic experiences that have left physical and psychological scars, impairing the quality of their lives. Humanitarian help alone is not enough - people need to be able to free themselves of their fears and to work through those experiences, at least in part. Children are strongly affected and show psychological symptoms that can be attributed to the effects of violence and fear.

On 1 April 2009, cfd and her partner organisation, the Palestinian Working Women's Society for Developments (PWWSD), started an emergency project that includes psychological and psychosocial support for Palestinian women and their families. The PWWSD offices in Nablus and Ramallah in the West Bank run several help lines around the clock, enabling men and women to speak to psychologists and social workers about their traumatic experiences. During the first three months of the project about 1'850 men and women made use of this facility and received counselling and support.

In Gaza, eight qualified women offer psychosocial support. This consists of group sessions for women and play and discussion groups for children. cfd supports the work of these women by supplying external consultation and supervision. In the first three months, 320 women and 730 children joined the project. Many of the participants also had individual sessions, with which a total of 920 women and 808 children were reached.
cfd plans to continue with this project in the coming year 2010 by extending it and incorporating it in the Palestine program.