WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.870 --> 00:00:01.560
Hello,

2
00:00:01.560 --> 00:00:05.790
this is Fida Shurrab projects and fundraising officer at Atfaluna society for

3
00:00:05.791 --> 00:00:07.920
the children based in the Gaza Strip, Palestine.

4
00:00:07.950 --> 00:00:12.510
The Corona Virus pandemic has brought more suffering to

5
00:00:12.631 --> 00:00:14.760
children with disabilities, living in the Gaza Strip. In June,

6
00:00:16.290 --> 00:00:19.920
2020 Atfaluna conducted research on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the

7
00:00:19.921 --> 00:00:22.860
persons with disabilities living in the Gaza Strip.

8
00:00:22.860 --> 00:00:27.570
Findings showed that 30.2 of people with this ability to state that

9
00:00:27.571 --> 00:00:31.170
there is a reduction in public services that are provided to them, due to

10
00:00:31.171 --> 00:00:32.970
the spread of COVID-19 in Gaza. While 87.4

11
00:00:35.970 --> 00:00:38.400
of the people with disabilities reported that the rehabilitation services

12
00:00:39.960 --> 00:00:44.940
for them are negatively affected by the COVID-19 crisis situation. Finally,

13
00:00:45.300 --> 00:00:49.740
62% of them reported that they are not engaged in the COVID-19 emergency

14
00:00:50.130 --> 00:00:52.640
response planning. While 

15
00:00:54.350 --> 00:00:57.590
94 of the interviewed person with ability to report the current

16
00:00:57.620 --> 00:01:00.830
e-learning approach is not inclusive for the children with disabilities.

17
00:01:00.830 --> 00:01:02.930
The Atfaluna responses

18
00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:06.710
for the COVID-19 situation in the Gaza Strip encompassed

19
00:01:08.930 --> 00:01:10.040
two major steps: One,

20
00:01:10.130 --> 00:01:15.080
conducting needs assessment to identify the needs of children with disabilities

21
00:01:15.110 --> 00:01:17.660
and what interventions can be provided to meet these needs; two, developing

22
00:01:19.791 --> 00:01:24.440
inclusive COVID-19 emergency response guidelines so that all the interventions

23
00:01:24.470 --> 00:01:28.880
can be inclusive to children with and without disabilities and adults with and

24
00:01:28.881 --> 00:01:33.200
without disabilities. The following was conducted: First,

25
00:01:33.500 --> 00:01:37.490
the Atfaluna services provided to the children continued remotely,

26
00:01:37.940 --> 00:01:40.280
and a new hotline was established

27
00:01:40.760 --> 00:01:43.970
so that the parents and the children keep the contact with the service

28
00:01:43.971 --> 00:01:44.804
providers.

29
00:01:45.090 --> 00:01:49.910
The Atfaluna school continued the educational classes remotely to 200

30
00:01:49.911 --> 00:01:51.710
students with hearing disability.

31
00:01:52.190 --> 00:01:56.390
Teachers were trained on using the online platforms and delivering educational

32
00:01:56.391 --> 00:01:57.020
classes.

33
00:01:57.020 --> 00:02:00.950
Teachers trained the students and their parents on how to use the online

34
00:02:00.951 --> 00:02:01.760
platforms.

35
00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:06.170
WhatsApp groups were formulated where educational cards were shared with the

36
00:02:06.171 --> 00:02:07.580
students and their parents.

37
00:02:07.970 --> 00:02:12.200
Students who did not have access to internet were handed the educational cards

38
00:02:12.710 --> 00:02:16.850
through door-to-door modalities, and they were followed up through the hotline.

39
00:02:18.410 --> 00:02:18.830
Moreover,

40
00:02:18.830 --> 00:02:23.060
it was important to maintain the delivery of child protection and psychosocial

41
00:02:23.061 --> 00:02:24.320
support interventions.

42
00:02:24.830 --> 00:02:29.060
<v 1>The team conducted child protection workshops to more than 1000 families and</v>

43
00:02:29.061 --> 00:02:29.894
their parents,

44
00:02:30.710 --> 00:02:34.580
giving them knowledge and the skills of how to deal with the children during the

45
00:02:34.580 --> 00:02:35.900
times of crisis and home confinement.

46
00:02:35.901 --> 00:02:40.550
The workshops were conducted remotely and through inclusive videos and

47
00:02:40.551 --> 00:02:43.370
materials published online through social media platforms. Psychosocial

48
00:02:45.201 --> 00:02:49.100
support sessions were given remotely with the usage of the guidelines developed

49
00:02:49.101 --> 00:02:49.821
for fathers and mothers,

50
00:02:49.821 --> 00:02:54.530
to have parents have the role of psychosocial counselors for the children at

51
00:02:54.531 --> 00:02:58.460
their home, with regular consultation with the psychosocial specialists.

52
00:02:58.550 --> 00:03:01.840
WhatsApp groups for families and their children were formed.

53
00:03:02.050 --> 00:03:05.890
On a daily basis there were two hours of consultation provided to the families,

54
00:03:06.190 --> 00:03:08.890
either through the groups or individual sessions.

55
00:03:09.160 --> 00:03:12.760
The team provided consultation as well through the hotline that was launched

56
00:03:13.030 --> 00:03:14.080
during the pandemic. Weekly

57
00:03:15.641 --> 00:03:18.700
psychosocial activity kits were designed and distributed to the families through

58
00:03:18.730 --> 00:03:20.740
the online modalities.

59
00:03:21.100 --> 00:03:23.980
and they were given advice how to implement those activities with their

60
00:03:23.981 --> 00:03:24.814
children.

61
00:03:24.910 --> 00:03:28.780
The families who did not have internet connection reached out through the field

62
00:03:28.781 --> 00:03:30.550
team, with the printed materials,

63
00:03:30.580 --> 00:03:34.600
and they received the consultations through the hotline.

64
00:03:35.170 --> 00:03:38.050
To make the online modalities easy for the beneficiaries,

65
00:03:38.080 --> 00:03:42.880
the families and children received training on how to use Zoom application and

66
00:03:42.880 --> 00:03:45.850
Google classes that were used for conducting the counseling

67
00:03:46.030 --> 00:03:46.863
sessions.

68
00:03:47.770 --> 00:03:51.550
The following are the measures used to reduce COVID-19 effects on vulnerable

69
00:03:51.580 --> 00:03:54.460
children with and without disabilities and their families:

70
00:03:55.390 --> 00:03:58.270
inclusive awareness raising was a significant intervention;

71
00:03:58.720 --> 00:04:02.830
COVID-19 inclusive messages were developed and disseminated in inclusive and

72
00:04:02.830 --> 00:04:05.320
friendly formats that have same language interpretation: audio text,

73
00:04:07.600 --> 00:04:12.250
easy to read language and clear and accessible font of texts for children with

74
00:04:12.251 --> 00:04:16.210
and without disabilities. They took the forms of songs, cartoons,

75
00:04:16.480 --> 00:04:18.850
short stories, and short messages.

76
00:04:19.030 --> 00:04:23.650
Also, children received awareness-raising sessions through zoom and social media

77
00:04:23.651 --> 00:04:24.484
applications.

78
00:04:25.240 --> 00:04:26.073
All in all, Atfaluna's main recommendations

79
00:04:27.640 --> 00:04:31.600
for pandemic inclusive responses are as follows: one,

80
00:04:31.900 --> 00:04:35.500
promote studies on the impact of COVID-19 on the health of children with

81
00:04:35.500 --> 00:04:39.640
disabilities. Two, identify and remove barriers to treatment,

82
00:04:39.641 --> 00:04:42.940
including ensuring accessible environments to hospitals,

83
00:04:42.940 --> 00:04:45.130
testing and quarentine facilities,

84
00:04:45.430 --> 00:04:49.360
as well as the availability and dissemination of health information and

85
00:04:49.361 --> 00:04:51.670
communications and accessible methods. Three,

86
00:04:52.480 --> 00:04:57.280
ensure continued access to medical and rehabilitation services for

87
00:04:57.281 --> 00:04:59.260
children with disability during the pandemic. Four, conduct

88
00:05:01.001 --> 00:05:05.140
training and awareness-raising of health workers to prevent discrimination

89
00:05:05.141 --> 00:05:06.640
against children with disabilities. Five,

90
00:05:07.870 --> 00:05:11.230
closely consult and work with actively-involved persons,

91
00:05:11.250 --> 00:05:11.411
with disabilities

92
00:05:11.411 --> 00:05:12.610
and their representatives

93
00:05:12.670 --> 00:05:14.200
organizations.

94
00:05:14.530 --> 00:05:19.180
and framing a rights based response to the pandemic that is inclusive and

95
00:05:19.181 --> 00:05:23.710
responsive to all the children with and without disabilities. Finally,

96
00:05:23.950 --> 00:05:27.460
ensure that children with disabilities have access to inclusive e-learning

97
00:05:27.490 --> 00:05:28.030
measures.