Agencies Rush Aid to Lebanese, Others in Syria
UN Agencies Rush Aid to Help Lebanese And Others Who Have Fled to Syria
New York, Aug 9 2006 10:00AM
Seeking to help ease the plight of thousands of civilians who have fled fighting in Lebanon for Syria, United Nations agencies are rushing aid to the country as part of the overall effort to assist civilians caught in the crossfire of the Middle East conflict.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has focused its attention on the youngest victims, organizing immunization campaigns to protect them from diseases such as polio, mumps, measles, rubella and meningitis. The agency has also provided 150,000 capsules of vitamin A to be distributed to all affected children in a bid to boost their immune system.
With an eye to the
reproductive health of women, the UN Population Fund
( The Fund has also provided
the Syrian Family Planning Association with a mobile clinic,
a gynecologist, and an ultra sound machine, as well as other
mobile health services, essential drugs, contraceptives and
fuel for the mobile clinic and vehicles. So far this has
reached more than 2,000 people, including 40 pregnant women
and 80 women treated for reproductive tract infections. Since the end of July, the UN World Food Programme (WFP)
has distributed approximately three metric tonnes of food a
day to up to 11,000 people in the Damascus area s part of
its overall three-month campaign to give 50,000 people
nutritious and protein-rich foods. Some 30,000 people will
also receive high-energy biscuits for seven days.
A number
of UN agencies have also provided personal hygiene kits to
promote sanitation as well as help to ensure that women and
girls have privacy and secure toilet facilities. The UN
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has distributed 1,000
tents and more than 10,800 mattresses, 8,890 blankets, and
1,400 kitchen sets to affected civilians in Syria. The UN
Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) is addressing the needs of
more than 2,000 Palestinians from Lebanon, including over
1,600 who are being accommodated at eight UNRWA schools in
Yarmouk, Damascus. According to a statement released
earlier this week by the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for
Lebanon, since the conflict erupted on 12 July, about 960
Lebanese, mostly civilians, have been killed. Almost 3,400
others have been injured and more than 915,000 people – or
about one quarter of Lebanon’s population – have been
forced to leave their homes. In Israel, 95 people have been
killed, including 38 civilians, with many more injured. ENDS