NEW YORK, May 22 (WSH) — As airstrikes continue across the Gaza Strip, a United Nations education fund has sounded the alarm on the devastating toll the conflict is taking on children, calling for an immediate ceasefire and restoration of safe access to education.
In a statement released Thursday, Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait (ECW), revealed that more than 950 children have been killed in Gaza in the past two months alone — an average of 15 children per day. “Those who survive face the risk of famine, illness, and the collapse of essential services, including education,” she said.
Education System ‘in Ruins’
According to the Global Education Cluster, over 95% of Gaza’s schools have been partially or completely destroyed, and 88% will need significant reconstruction to reopen. At least 658,000 children are currently out of school, many of them displaced, traumatized, and suffering from the loss of family members.
“No child is safe in Gaza,” Sherif stated, adding that ECW is prepared to support “mental health and psychosocial services as part of our education in emergency response.”
Despite the devastation, Sherif acknowledged the resilience of local communities. “Gaza’s families, teachers and local organizations are doing what they can to mitigate the enormous impact on children, including limited learning activities where conditions allow,” she said.
Call for Action
Sherif emphasized that restoring education requires more than local effort — it requires a political solution. ECW is calling for:
- An immediate end to hostilities
- Respect for international humanitarian law
- Safe, unimpeded humanitarian access
- The release of all hostages
- Protection of civilians and schools
The call echoes a recent statement by UN Under-Secretary-General Tom Fletcher, who addressed the Security Council: “Our response as humanitarians is to make a single ask of the Council: let us work. The UN and our partners are desperate to resume humanitarian aid at scale across Gaza.”
Sherif concluded, “Where children suffer excruciating pain, nothing can wait. Yet, the children in Gaza are desperately waiting for a response to this single ask.”
