Latest funding partnerships established with Medecins du Monde, Medecins sans Frontières and Handicap International to relieve the suffering of children in Gaza.

Action follows work with children in and around Ukraine, as well as in Sudan, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and Afghanistan.

The UEFA Foundation for Children has announced its latest initiative to help children affected by war in different parts of the world. The new partnerships follow action, announced in March 2022, with charities and FAs in and around Ukraine to finance initiatives from UEFA member associations and charities focusing on children’s rights and their well-being. Other previous projects include initiatives in numerous conflict zones such as Afghanistan, Lebanon, Sudan, Syria and Yemen supporting projects in favour of children affected by the war.

The latest partnerships have been set up with three charities providing vital humanitarian help for the children of Gaza, who are enduring what UN Secretary General António Guterres has described as, “a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions.”

The organisations are Medecins du Monde, Medecins sans Frontières and Handicap International, each working in different ways to help children caught up in the current conflict.

Médecins du Monde has been present in the region since 1995, where the organisation works to improve access to healthcare for civilians. They provide humanitarian aid in the West Bank and Gaza, particularly by preparing healthcare facilities for emergency situations and improving their coordination. In the West Bank, Médecins du Monde also provides psychosocial support to victims of violence with their mobile clinics. They also distribute food kits for children..

Medecins sans frontières / Doctors without Borders: MSF teams work to treat wounded people and supply overwhelmed hospitals. The organisation provides surgical support, injury treatment, physiotherapy, primary care, trauma care, maternal and pediatric care, among other services. They have 10 health centres. They also ensure water and food distribution.

Handicap International – Humanity & Inclusion has a total of 133 national staff members and more than 500 community workers operating in the Gaza Strip, Jerusalem, Ramallah and Egypt. The organisation specifically helps in:

  • Distribution of first aid kits
  • Emergency aid and rehabilitation: care and medical equipment for the seriously injured and disabled
  • Psychosocial support
  • Education on the risk of explosive remnants

Announcing the initiative and the partnerships, the chairman of the UEFA Foundation, UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin said:

Whatever the adults waging wars think they are doing, the children are innocent. But, in all conflicts, they are dying every single day and we must do what we can to help those who are trying to make life more tolerable and normal for them.

Through the UEFA Foundation for Children, we strive to support those who are working to ease the burdens the children carry - helping them find moments of peace and hope, even in the hardest of circumstances.

It's our duty - as adults, as parents, as neighbours, as human beings - to stand beside children when they need us. Sometimes, even the smallest gesture can remind them they are not alone, that they are not forgotten and that they are valued. We can't change the world on our own - but children can and will, if we provide them with safety, love and hope they need to grow

- Aleksander Čeferin, UEFA President