Japan-Backed Maternal Handbooks Help Women in Gaza

Jerusalem, March 19 (Jiji Press)--Pregnant women and mothers with infants in the Gaza Strip, which has been devastated by intense fighting between Israel and Hamas, are relying on maternal and child health handbooks that Japan has promoted.

The handbooks provide vital information on child care at a time when medical facilities are closed and digital information on pregnancy, childbirth and parenting is often inaccessible due to the conflict.

Palestinian territories including Gaza began using Arabic-language versions of these handbooks in 2008, produced with support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency. The handbooks contain many illustrations, given the low literacy rate in the region.

JICA partially covers printing costs, and the handbooks are available at local public medical institutions, as well as facilities of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA, and of nongovernmental organizations.

JICA's Palestine Office believes that almost all Palestinian mothers use these handbooks.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]