The Culture and Free Thought Association bases its work on a set of integrated programmes that reflect its vision of empowering communities and strengthening their resilience. These programmes are designed to meet the needs of target groups while ensuring equitable access to services, with a focus on the most vulnerable groups amid the ongoing challenges facing the Gaza Strip.
As part of developing its work, the Association adopted a strategic transformation in 2024 by restructuring its services under an integrated programme-based approach, enhancing response efficiency and deepening its impact on the lives of beneficiaries.
The Childhood Programme is one of the key pillars of the Association’s overall programme portfolio. It aims to strengthen child protection and enable children to access their fundamental rights to education, protection, health, and mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), based on a human rights-based approach and community participation. The programme seeks to provide a safe and inclusive environment for children, including children with disabilities, ensuring equal opportunities for learning, development, and meaningful participation, while contributing to strengthening their resilience and capacity to cope with challenges, particularly in the context of the impacts of war and displacement.
The programme focuses on developing integrated interventions that respond to children’s educational, psychological, and social needs by providing safe alternative learning opportunities, mitigating learning loss, promoting inclusive education, and establishing child-friendly spaces where children can express themselves, develop their life and creative skills, and build positive relationships with their peers and communities. It also engages families, teachers, and caregivers in supporting the learning process and strengthening community-based protection.
Childhood and Education Programme Projects
The Childhood and Education component is one of the programme’s key pillars. It focuses on protecting children, expanding their access to education and inclusive learning, and providing a safe, protective, and supportive learning environment that enables them to continue learning despite challenging humanitarian conditions. The component places particular emphasis on addressing learning loss resulting from war and displacement and promoting children’s psychosocial well-being.
Target Groups:
Children aged 6–18 years
Children with disabilities
Unaccompanied and separated children (UASC)
Parents and caregivers
Teachers
Implementation Locations:
Camps, displacement sites, the Middle Governorate, and southern Gaza, in addition to the Association’s educational spaces.
Achievements and Results (2025) :
During the implementation period, the programme achieved tangible results in the areas of education, child protection, and community participation, including:
Operation of 4 educational spaces and points in camps and affected areas.
Over 15,000 students benefited from formal and supportive education services.
Provision of basic education in Arabic, Mathematics, English, and Science.
Equipping youth aged 17–18 with life skills and capacity-building activities to prepare them for the future.
Establishment of 23 Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) within educational spaces to enhance community participation.
Engagement of 184 caregivers in advisory and community committees.
Conducting 56 awareness-raising workshops for parents on supporting children’s learning and protection.
Organization of 3 peer-learning and educational experience-sharing sessions among teaching staff.
Training 179 teachers and volunteers on active learning and Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) strategies.
Implementing 43 drawing and fine arts activities to promote children’s creative expression.
Implementing 162 choir and music workshops and activities to nurture children’s talents and artistic skills.
Development and performance of 6 child-led theatrical shows.
Executing 13 child-led initiatives addressing bullying, leadership, personal and environmental hygiene, and psychosocial support.
Implementing 41 cultural and heritage workshops to strengthen identity and belonging.
Organizing 53 recreational days and 77 recreational activities to support children’s mental health and well-being.
Provision of Psychological First Aid (PFA) to 105 children.
Conducting 249 individual and group counselling sessions for children in need of psychosocial support.
Providing case management services to 52 children to ensure access to specialized services.
Delivering counselling and awareness-raising sessions benefiting 2,236 children.
Through these integrated interventions, the Childhood Programme has contributed to strengthening children’s ability to continue their education, protecting their rights, supporting their mental health and psychosocial well-being, and enabling them to participate meaningfully in their communities. This reflects the Culture and Free Thought Association’s commitment to providing a comprehensive and sustainable response to children’s needs across the Gaza Strip, particularly amid ongoing humanitarian crises.
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