Global perspective Human stories

Georgia: UNICEF provides aid to women and children fleeing fighting

Georgia: UNICEF provides aid to women and children fleeing fighting

As civilians flee fighting between government troops and separatist forces in the South Ossetia region of Georgia, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is helping to provide rapid emergency assistance to those in need.

Hundreds of displaced women and children from South Ossetia have been temporarily moved to the sanatoriums of Borjomi in southern Georgia and Tskaltubo in the country's west. Over the weekend, a UNICEF official visited the displaced to define the scope of the assistance needed.

Their urgent needs include basic hygienic items, basic drugs, clothes and sport and recreational equipment, the agency reported today.

Nearly 800 displaced people, including 550 children, have received temporary accommodation in seven hotels and sanatoriums in Borjomi, Bakuriani, Tsemi and Ketchkhobi. The number includes 550 children under age of 18. An additional 120 children and 19 women have been brought to the Tskaltubo sanatorium.