Irish Representative To the PA presides Delegation To GCMHP

An Irish delegation presided by the Irish Representative to the Palestinian Authority, Mr Don Sexton, visited on Thursday, June 29, 2021 Gaza Community Mental Health Programme in order to be briefed on the mental health situation in the Gaza Strip and to be introduced to the interventions made by GCMHP and other partner organizations to support the psychological wellbeing of Gaza population.

The delegation was met by Dr Yasser Abu Jamei , Director Genera; Dr Taysir Diab, Deputy Director;, Mr Qusai Abu Odei, Director of External Relations Department; Ms Aisha Al-Basyouni, Head of Projects Unit;  in addition to Ms Amal Siyam, Director of Women Affairs Centre, representing her organization.  

Dr Abu Jamei delivered the welcoming speech in which he praised the Irish people’s stand by the Palestinian people, and then made a presentation on the mental health situation in the Gaza Strip which was deeply affected by the pandemic and the recent Israeli offensive. He also explained the intervention mechanisms used by GCMHP to provide mental health support for Gaza population in cooperation with partner organizations, in addition to the challenges resulted from the upsurge in demand on mental health.

Dr Abu Jamei also expressed his organistion’s appreciation for the great role Ireland is playing to support the Palestinian cause, emphasizing the necessity of continuing such support, especially at “this critical time in which people are still enduring the impact of recent offensive”.

On her part, Ms Siyam explained the services and activities that the Women Affairs Centre is providing side by side with other partner community organizations to ease the impact of the distressing events that the community is facing. She also made an appeal for the Irish people to stand by the Palestinian people and keep advocating and lobbying for ending the blockade, and also allowing entry for ovid-19 vaccines.

Mr Sexton, on his part, expressed his people’s solidarity with the Palestinian people in general, and the people in the Gaza Strip in particular, and praised the efforts made by GCMHP and WAC together with the other community organization in supporting the well-being of the Palestinian society, reiterating the point that the Ireland would continue support the Palestinian people.

Mr Abu Odei also provided a briefing on the types of interventions GCMHP provides, including the free telephone counselling services and explained how it contributes to identifying cases of different categories as well as data on the mental health situation.

Providing further details on the telephone counselling , Ms Al-Basyoni presented statistics and details on the cases that are referred from the hotline and what are the most affected groups.

At the end of the meeting, GCMHP and WAC thanked the Irish delegation for their visit which came as part of the support and solidarity efforts done by the Irish government and people.