More UN aid gets through to Lebanon; unexploded ordnance in many southern areas

More United Nations aid arrived in Lebanon today as the cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hizbollah entered its second week but the UN office coordinating humanitarian assistance warned that unexploded ordnance litters many areas in the south and will take months to clear.

“The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that three convoys were dispatched from Beirut today, bringing the number of convoys sent since 26 July to 52,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York.

“OCHA also reports that the entire Sidon region, with the exception of Marjayoun, is heavily contaminated by unexploded ordnance; de-mining will take up to six months in the region of Nabatiye alone. UN agencies have worked with the Government on a public awareness campaign on the dangers posed by the ordnance.”

Since the current crisis started, the World Food Programme (WFP) has fed 460,000 people, and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has provided essential drugs for 70,000 people and carried out vaccination campaigns against measles for 13,000 children and against polio for 9,000, Mr. Dujarric added, outlining some of the relief work.

To help deal with the chronic fuel shortage in Lebanon, the UN also assisted in bringing in 135,000 tons for the Government and aid agencies between 2 and 17 August.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated today that only a few thousand of the 180,000 Lebanese who found shelter across the border were still in Syria and it also reported a similar situation inside Lebanon with most of the hundreds of thousands of displaced returning to their homes.

However, with many discovering that they had lost their homes or livelihoods, or both, they may require considerable assistance as they rebuild, the Agency said, as it continued to bring in more supplies today for those affected by the recent conflict.