{"id":5343,"date":"2014-06-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-06-27T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/2014\/06\/27\/moving-forward-hand-in-hand-with-gazas-christian-community\/"},"modified":"2014-06-27T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2014-06-27T00:00:00","slug":"moving-forward-hand-in-hand-with-gazas-christian-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/moving-forward-hand-in-hand-with-gazas-christian-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Moving Forward Hand-in-Hand with Gaza’s Christian Community"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sami El-Yousef <\/em><\/p>\n

My colleague and I visited Gaza to attend the presentation highlighting the key results of the
\nChristian Community Survey, conducted by YMCA — Gaza and in collaboration with Gaza’s
\nChristian institutions who worked hand in hand to plan, design, and implement the survey.<\/p>\n

The purpose of the survey was raised in June 2013 when
\nthe PMP held a roundtable discussion on how best Gaza’s Christian institutions can better coordinate and collaborate internally on initiatives and projects in
\naddition to presenting a tangible document for donor
\nagencies that identifies the Christian community’s needs, possible funding strategies in collaboration with the
\nChristian institutions to strengthen the Christian presence
\nthere. PMP together with Embrace the Middle East
\nfunded the survey.<\/p>\n

The 1st day of the presentation of the survey’s key
\nfindings was attended by over 200 people including the
\nmain partners, key representatives of the Christian
\ninstitutions as well as a number of guests representing the
\nCatholic Coordination Committee in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n

Brief summary of survey results:<\/strong>
\nChristians are a minority group in Gaza, having very
\nsmall households compared to Gaza’s population at
\nlarge, with a total of 390 Christian households (1,313
\npeople) and steadily declining. Gaza Christians mainly
\nlive as one community in Gaza Governorate and
\naccording to the survey; a majority are described as
\nmiddle-aged, female adults (93.9 males per 100
\nfemales), Greek Orthodox (89%), employed in the labor
\nforce (40%) and are 1948 refugees (54%).<\/p>\n

Gaza Christians are very well educated where 40 percent have earned a bachelor’s degree and 6 percent have earned a post-graduate degree (MA and Ph.D.). Since priority in education is high, this preference has prolonged the age of first marriage and starting a family (29 years old for
\nmales and 21 years old for females), which has affected Christians’ already average small household sizes (of only 3.8 individuals per household) in stark contrast to the general population. Over half (54 percent) of all young Gaza Christians (below the age of 18 years old) attend private Christian schools while the remainder are enrolled at either public schools or UNRWA schools.<\/p>\n

Over a quarter of the Christian population are considered needy and poor with some 34 percent with no income to cover basic living costs. Some 34 percent of Gaza Christians do not have any health insurance coverage; 16 percent suffer from chronic diseases and 2 percent are intellectually or physically challenged.<\/p>\n

The 2nd- day of the workshop was designed to have a more in-depth discussion about the results of the survey and develop a plan in collaboration with the Christian institutions. Each Christian institution gave a presentation about their work, areas of expertise, the challenges they face, as well as the future prospects.<\/p>\n