IHA/1223
21 August 2006
Humanitarian Factsheet on Lebanon
NEW YORK, 21 August (UN Headquarters) -- The following has been prepared by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
Population Returns
-- 1,183 dead and 4,054 wounded (according to Lebanon's Higher Relief Council (HRC)).
-- 262,174 displaced, down from nearly one million one week ago (HRC).
-- 107,000 returnees from Syria (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)).
-- Additional 10,000 returns through smaller border points (Governor of Homs (Syria)).
-- 95 per cent of Lebanese sheltering in schools and other public centres have returned (HRC).
Humanitarian Activities
Four humanitarian convoys dispatched today:
-- Marjayoun -- 16 World Food Programme (WFP) and four World Health Organization (WHO) trucks.
-- Saida/Naquora -- 17 WFP trucks.
-- Masnaa -- two United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) trucks.
-- Aarida to Beirut, forward to Tyre -- 10 UNHCR trucks.
Two convoys planned for Saturday (subject to change) -- both will carry urgent bottled water supplies:
-- Tyre, Rmeish and Saida -- trucks for United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), and World Vision.
-- Marjayoun -- UNICEF trucks.
Tyre humanitarian hub: Assessment mission visited 10 major population areas on routes between Jwayya, Tibnin and Bint Jbeil.
-- Roads mainly intact apart from two large bomb craters close to Burj al Shmali.
-- Centre of Bint Jbeil completely destroyed; estimated 400 properties destroyed and 600 badly damaged.
-- Fuel urgently required for generators, cooking and water pumps.
Saida (Sidon) humanitarian hub: Now covering Saida city and surrounding area, Nabatiye and Marjayoun.
-- Up to 90 per cent of structures in area destroyed.
-- Only 300 people remaining in internally displaced person centres in Saida, although estimated 8,000 to 10,000 with host families.
-- Electricity still being rationed, which is affecting water supply.
-- Fuel and clean drinking water urgently needed.
-- 327,300 people fed by WFP to date (1,815 metric tons of food); target caseload is 550,000 people.
Lebanon Flash Appeal
-- To date, $87.2 million committed to the $165 million Flash Appeal for Lebanon -- 53 per cent of requirements. Additional $7 million in pledges.
For further information, please call: Stephanie Bunker, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 5126, mobile +1 917 892 1679; Kristen Knutson, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 9262; Elisabeth Byrs, OCHA-Geneva, +41 22 917 2653, mobile, +41 79 473 4570. OCHA press releases are available at http://ochaonline.un.org or www.reliefweb.int .
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