As a result of the Operation Cast Lead crisis (December 2008/January 2009), also known as the Gaza War between Israel and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, UNESCO and other international organizations immediately developed responses to support the recovery of educational and other services in Gaza. UNESCO activities focused on gaps at secondary and higher education levels and the promotion of quality standards in emergency education, which included Palestine’s rst training sessions on applying the INEE Minimum Standards for Education: Preparedness, Response and Recovery.

 

UNESCO’s Programme of Emergency Support to the education system in Gaza was funded by the O ce of Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al Missned of Qatar and started in late 2009. It was developed in response to identi ed sector priorities and gaps with initiatives to improve the preparedness of the education system in Gaza for future emergencies – whether related to con ict or to natural disasters – in order to minimize the physical and psychosocial e ects and the disruptions to education that occur as a result of such emergencies. Based on the experience of the innovative crisis–disaster risk reduction (c-DRR)2 component of this programme, the UNESCO team prepared a booklet in 2012 to compile the lessons learned from the UNESCO emergency education response in Gaza.