Foreign Minister Maris Riekstins meets with children from Gaza strip during their rehabilitation course in Latvia

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On 25 June, Foreign Minister Maris Riekstins met with participants of the Latvian government project The rehabilitation programme for children traumatised during the Gaza Strip conflict. Also taking part in the discussion were the Head of the Palestine General Delegation in Finland, Nabil Alwazir, the Honorary Consul of Latvia in Jordan, Khaled Miqdadi, and the Head of the Centre of Arab Culture, Hosam Abu Meri.

During the meeting, Minister Riekstins welcomed the children to Latvia and expressed hope that they had been able both to receive the necessary medical treatment here and to get to know the country, as well as to experience Midsummer traditions. The Minister listened to the children's impressions on the time spent in Latvia and showed them his office.

From 16 June to 1 July, 18 Palestinian children from the Gaza Strip, accompanied by two adults, are in Latvia to undergo a rehabilitation course at the Social Integration State Agency in Dubulti. The project participants are children from six to eighteen years of age, all of them traumatised during the recent military crisis – for instance, seven have been injured, another seven have lost their parents. 

The rehabilitation programme includes medical treatment measures and a programme for getting to know Latvia. The Social Integration State Agency provides to each child an individual rehabilitation programme prescribed by a doctor that includes counselling by a psychologist, hydrotherapy, physical therapy, medical gymnastics and, in case of need, also medication. Beside the medical programme, children visit the sights and museums of Jurmala and Riga. 

The project is implemented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, with financial and organisational assistance from the Honorary Consuls of Latvia in Egypt, Jordan and Syria, as well as the Centre of Arab Culture and the NGO Lidere.

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