Georgia: Unicef Sends School Supplies To Displaced Children From South Ossetia

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) today announced the delivery of school supplies and sporting equipment to displaced civilians who have fled fighting between government troops and separatist forces in the South Ossetia region of Georgia.

More than 500 children are among the thousands of Georgians who began to flee when the clashes broke out last week.

UNICEF has sent 35 school kits and 10 football kits, along with information materials for parents and social workers, to the local government, which will pass them to 970 displaced people currently being housed in nine sanatoriums and hotels of the region.

The agency emphasized that these sports and educational supplies are key to helping children overcome the trauma they experienced during the bombing of their villages in South Ossetia.

On the health front, the agency is working with the country's health authorities to immunize the displaced against measles, mumps and rubella to prevent an outbreak of epidemics. Vitamin A capsules, essential drugs and first aid kits are also in the pipeline.

Currently, over 2,500 displaced women and children from South Ossetia have been relocated to various hotels and sanatoriums in six regions of Georgia.

School kits form a core part of UNICEF response in emergencies. Each serves 40 students and contains basic school supplies such as exercise books, pencils, erasers and scissors. In addition, the kits provide a wooden teaching clock, plastic cubes for counting and a set of laminated posters for teaching math and reading. The kit is supplied in a locked aluminium box; the lid can double as a blackboard when coated with the special paint included in the kit.