03-11-2025 | di COOPI

Help Gaza

After more than two years since the escalation of violence that began in October 2023, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached unprecedented levels. The healthcare system is nearly non-existent: 94% of hospitals have been damaged or destroyed, and only a small portion remains partially functional. Medical supplies are scarce, and healthcare teams work under extreme conditions, often without adequate tools to assist the over 160,000 injured people estimated by the WHO. In this context, local community response is vital. Young women and men — volunteers and community workers — are often the first, and sometimes the only, ones to provide basic healthcare and psychosocial support to their fellow citizens.

Training Youth to Save Lives

Since October 2025, COOPI has been supporting the project “HELP GAZA,” implemented by partner Education For Employment – Palestine (EFE-Palestine).

Over the past two years, EFE-Palestine has already trained more than 770 young people in first aid, emergency obstetric care, and psychosocial support, enabling them to assist over 144,000 displaced people, including 55,000 mothers and newborns. Thanks to these skills, the trained youth have been able to provide life-saving care, assist in emergency births, and offer psychosocial support to those who have suffered trauma and loss.

“The multiplier effect has been significant: participants have shared the knowledge they gained with more than 3,500 peers, expanding the reach of the intervention and helping create a widespread, resilient network of community responders. The new initiative promoted by COOPI aims to strengthen and expand this network,” highlights Ennio Miccoli, COOPI Director.

The goal is to reach as many people in need as possible, providing emergency care and psychosocial support in shelters, temporary clinics, and informal community spaces. The trained youth — at least 50% women — will work closely with the few functioning local facilities, helping to fill the gaps left by the collapse of the healthcare system and ensuring continuity of essential services.

Help Gaza. Together

Behind every number are faces, stories, and lives to save. In a place where everything seems lost, the young people of Gaza continue to show strength, resilience, and solidarity.

With your help, we can give them the tools to keep healing, listening, and rebuilding hope.

Support the project “HELP GAZA” and donate now to provide first aid and psychosocial support to those who need it most: dona.coopi.org/aiutiamo-gaza

Our Partner

Founded in 2006, Education For Employment – Palestine (EFE-Palestine) is one of the leading Palestinian civil society organizations committed to youth vocational training and employment. It is part of the international “Education For Employment” network.

Following the escalation of violence in Gaza, EFE-Palestine rapidly adapted its programs to respond to the health and psychosocial emergency, activating a network of trained workers who today represent a key component of the humanitarian response in the territory. Through collaboration with hospitals and local associations, the organization ensures coordinated, community-rooted interventions aligned with the territory’s health priorities.

COOPI in Palestine

COOPI began its operations in 2002 in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem, focusing on Water and Sanitation (WASH), waste management, economic support for vulnerable groups, education, and protection. Between 2009 and 2012, COOPI specifically focused on vocational training and the labor inclusion of youth and women in East Jerusalem. Thanks to its long-standing collaboration with EFE in the Middle East, COOPI decided in 2025 to support the initiative “HELP GAZA” implemented in collaboration with EFE-Palestine.