Mideast: Traumatized children struggle to rise again

Tens of thousands of children in Gaza are still suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) following Israel's three-week bombing December- January. Several crisis counseling teams run by international organizations and NGOs have been carrying out intervention programs aimed at helping Gaza's most vulnerable put the pieces of their lives back together. But these groups warn that while there has been some improvement in the collective psyche of Gaza's children, the long-term effects of war are now beginning to show, and unless the rights of Gazans are respected, the next generation's future will be hard to predict. "What is needed is sustained advocacy at a political level to ensure practical changes can be implemented," says Marixie Mercado from the UN International Children's Fund (Unicef). Well over half of Gaza's 1.5 million people are under 18 years of age. More than 70 percent of children in Gaza are likely to present with PTSD, and 34 percent have anxiety symptoms of likely clinical significance, according to a report from the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP). A further 43 percent are considered by their parents to have significant mental health morbidity.