In addition to our educational and therapeutic efforts, we strive to amplify the voices of children by engaging with Israeli authorities to promote necessary changes.
Our public advocacy is conducted in partnership with other social organizations, local authorities, and government ministries. Among our initiatives, we draft position papers on relevant topics, advocate for amendments to healthcare laws to ensure undocumented children receive proper medical care, and develop innovative educational tools to promote integration between communities.
Israel is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Despite this, significant gaps remain in policies supporting undocumented children:
Israel's National Health Insurance Law does not cover undocumented children. We are actively working at the public level and collaborating with official entities to ensure the new draft law changes and provides appropriate healthcare solutions for undocumented children.
Under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Israel is a signatory, the country is obligated to guarantee access to rights for every minor living within its borders. This includes the right to education, regardless of their civil status. Today, due to extensive and ongoing efforts, most undocumented children are in appropriate educational programs. However, these programs often reinforce segregation, widening the gaps between undocumented children and their Israeli peers. To address this growing challenge, we launched our integrative nursery pilot project.
According to a 2016 directive from the Ministry of Welfare, all children, regardless of their legal status, are entitled to social welfare services in their local municipality. In practice, however, many children do not receive the psychosocial support they need. These gaps are particularly acute for families raising children with disabilities or special needs. We are working to bridge these gaps by collaborating directly with families and engaging with local and national authorities.
In June 2023, we established “Hanna Nursery” in Tel Aviv’s Shapira neighborhood as an integrative educational pilot promoting equal education for all. This innovative and community-based model is co-managed by an Israeli educator and an undocumented refugee educator, both residents of the neighborhood. The nursery is named in honor of Hanna Strasberg, a dedicated volunteer and social activist who significantly contributed to the welfare of Unitaf’s children.
The nursery’s goal is to create genuine opportunities for equal education based on humanistic values, tolerance, and acceptance of diversity. Like all Unitaf programs, the nursery staff receives continuous guidance from our educational instructors and coordinators to ensure the program addresses the cultural and emotional needs of all children and their families. Additionally, the caregivers participate in training on topics such as trauma and its impact on early childhood, language development, multiculturalism, and more.
The nursery’s activities are evaluated by our Research and Development Department to measure the pilot’s success and its impact on children’s development. Already, significant developmental progress has been observed among children from the asylum-seeking community enrolled in the nursery compared to their peers in non-integrative settings. Israeli children in the nursery have also demonstrated clear growth in values of tolerance and inclusion.
We believe this model benefits all children in the nursery and has the potential to become a blueprint for equitable education in many more cities.
Over the past 20 years, the extensive experience gained through the Unitaf project has evolved into a critical area of research.
Our Research and Development Department collaborates with researchers from Israeli and international universities to deeply understand the impacts of our educational model on young children. Current research topics include developing tools for educating and caring for traumatized children, understanding the effects of family trauma on early childhood development, and exploring multicultural integration in educational environments.
We strive to expand our efforts and support more marginalized children across the country
