IPA World Webinar
"Play in Palestine"
and
Launch of the Arabic translation of the IPA Access to Play in Situations of Crisis Toolkit,
Wednesday 20th May 2026. 12pm UK
Join us for the launch of the Arabic translation of the IPA Play in Situations of Crisis Toolkit for Staff, Managers and Policymakers. In this truly special event, we will also hear from Palestine Play Projects about the difference play is making daily for children in Gaza.
Every aspect of children’s lives is influenced by their need and desire to play. In times of crisis, playing offers essential relief to the stress children experience and, in the longer term, is critical for health, wellbeing, recovery and the return of joy.
In 2017, IPA published the Play in Crisis Toolkit as a practical, play-focussed contribution to help people working directly with children in the most difficult circumstances. Emerging from IPA’s wider Play in Crisis initiative, the toolkit drew on IPA’s groundbreaking research, led by Dr Sudeshna Chatterjee and was a collaborative effort with a working group from nine countries.
In 2023, the Ukrainian translation was published in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine. And in 2025, IPA Scotland coordinated the efforts to translate the toolkit into Arabic with supporting partner Palestine Play Projects (PPP). In this webinar, we will hear from both, and PPP will share how their work reaches grassroots projects providing direct support to children. We will hear the stories of the remarkable Palestinian team members who continue to support children's article 31 rights amongst the devastation in Gaza.
IPA Scotland gratefully acknowledges all the individuals and organisations who contributed to the Crowdfunder to help make this toolkit translation possible. The translator was Assmaa Maquib and the reader was Jehad Faraj.
Speakers
Stacey Marko is National Representative for IPA Scotland branch and a longstanding and passionate advocate for children’s right to play. A lecturer at Queen Margaret University in Scotland, she is also convenor of the newly established IPA Play Research Network which aims to support collaboration, research dissemination and critical practice.
Theresa Casey is a Past-President of the International Play Association (2008-2017) and coordinated IPA’s Play in Crisis thematic work. She is an independent consultant on play, inclusion and children’s rights and she retains her love of adventure playgrounds from her days as a playworker in Edinburgh and Bangkok.
Shireen Tawil has a Masters in Public Health. She worked on mental health and inclusion projects with Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Her understanding of
IPA Scotland would like to acknowledge all the individuals and organisations who contributed to the Crowdfunder to help make this toolkit translation possible.
