There is wide recognition that the 100+ day war has generated deep, ongoing, and recurrent trauma among Palestinians and Israelis alike. On this episode, viewers will hear from Palestinian mental health professionals Rajiah Abu Sway, Mental Health Officer at the World Health Organization Office for West Bank and Gaza (oPt), and Dr. Yasser Abu-Jamei, Director General of the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme. Panelists will discuss how they understand the mental health burden in Gaza, the status of the mental health professional workforce and institutions, and what priority actions are needed in the immediate present and what planning is needed for the long-term.
The CSIS live studio conversations, ‘Gaza: The Human Toll,’ are a product of the CSIS Bipartisan Alliance for Global Health Security, with co-sponsorship of the CSIS Humanitarian Agenda and the CSIS Middle East Program. The show will convene regularly during this crisis period to capture clearly and accurately the evolving humanitarian and health situation inside Gaza, understand how the conduct of the conflict is shaping outcomes and future policy and operational choices, think carefully about what may lie ahead, and hear from key operational international agencies and NGOs providing humanitarian assistance, as well as other experts with vital insights. Throughout these conversations, speakers will explore current and proposed U.S. policies.
This episode follows the release of the CSIS Commentary Gaza's Human Crisis Demands a Rethink. As 2024 opens, CSIS Senior Associate Leonard Rubenstein and CSIS Senior Vice President and Global Health Policy Center Director J. Stephen Morrison argue that a much tougher, more aggressive U.S. leadership is now urgently needed to press for changes by Israel and Hamas and mobilize others around a common strategy, if Gaza's population is to stabilize, see some early signs of hope of recovery, and escape the apocalyptic situation they now inhabit.
This event is made possible by the generous support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
