{"article":{"id":180281,"heading":"UNHCR links with social development centres to help Lebanese IDPs","author":"Annette Rehrl, UNHCR","created":"2006-09-29 21:04:28","modified":"2006-09-29 21:05:25","last_modified":"Sat, 30 Sep 2006 04:05:25","article":"

BEIRUT - World attention may have shifted away from Lebanon, but many people continue to suffer from the recent conflict - including hundreds of displaced people in Beirut's crowded Hai Al Sullam area.

Before the five-week war, the southern suburb's 275,000 permanent residents - mostly Shia Muslims and poor - lived cheek by jowl with migrants and Iraqi refugees and asylum seekers. They have since been joined by hundreds of displaced Lebanese, whose houses in neighbouring districts were destroyed by Israeli fire or who fled from the south to stay with families in the capital until it is safe to return. Uncertainty among the internally displaced people (IDPs) is high.

UNHCR is reaching out to these folk - and other IDPs around Lebanon - with the help of social development centres. The displaced were a bit wary at first, but they have come to trust the refugee agency and appreciate the distribution of UNHCR relief items. Local social workers now come regularly to discuss needs and issues of concern with UNHCR staff.

\"Whenever UNHCR comes, we are well received,\" said Tiziana Clerico, community services officer for UNHCR in the southern city of Sidon. \"People in the villages really appreciate what we have done for them.\"

Ali Bazzi, director of the social development centre in Hai Al Sullam, noted that most people whose houses had been destroyed had received money from Lebanese groups. \"But they don't spend it for rent, they live on it now,\" Bazzi said, adding: \"They will probably spend the winter here in Beirut, until they know what happens next.\"

Aside from accommodation, money is a big concern for most IDPs - many farmers, for instance, lost their harvests because of the war and face continued danger from unexploded ordnance littering their fields. This will affect their livelihood.

In Hai Al Sullam, Bazzi is also worried about indiscipline among children who have missed their summer vacation and lack order in their lives. Young boys playing on the district's narrow streets, fight and shout instead of playing their once habitual game of football. Children have become much more aggressive.

\"We have to do something about it,\" Bazzi said. \"These children not only deserve some recreation or entertainment, they also need to be educated in discipline. Right now we have 10 to 15 children living in a house - this creates tensions. And if they are left on the street, they may turn into criminals.\"

With help from UNHCR, he organised a 10-day summer school for 100 children aged between nine and 14. The refugee agency provided tents, mattresses, blankets, lanterns and kitchen sets for the camp, which was held in the playground of a nearby school and ended last Sunday.

The children, picked from the poorest and neediest families, were kept busy with a host of activities. There was even a psychologist on hand to help those with emotional problems. \"Many of our children need psycho-social care and their parents need some relief,\" Bazzi explained.

But while Bazzi's social development centre is providing an invaluable service, the demands for help are straining its resources. \"We have around 175 people coming every day to our centre to ask for some kind of assistance,\" he said. \"Some come for health assistance, others are interested in vocational training, others need support for their children. We have limits and I cannot take care of everybody.\"

With the spotlight now elsewhere in the world, some groups are starting to feel they have been forgotten. This is especially true of the vulnerable, of older people, those with handicaps, and widows, who find it more difficult to get the assistance they need.

But without the social development centres in places like Hai Ul Sallam, Lebanon's remaining displaced would have an even harder time and UNHCR, other UN agencies and non-governmental organisations would find it more difficult to distribute relief items and conduct needs assessments.

And Lebanon's displaced will clearly need help and continued support from overseas for some time to come.<\/p>\n","contact":"","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"And Lebanon's displaced will clearly need help and continued support from overseas for some time to come.","numcomment":1,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2006\/09\/180281.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":180282,"heading":"The are recovering, they are resilient","article":"Lebanon is recovering quickly from recent conflict between Israel and Hizbollah - UN\r\nReport, UN News, 28 September 2006\r\n\r\nMembers of a Lebanese family look out over the rubble of their home in Ayta As Shab. (UNHCR\/A.Branthwaite)\r\n\r\nLebanon is making speedy progress towards recovery after the destructive conflict between Israel and Hizbollah this summer and humanitarian agencies are preparing to close down or transfer their activities to relevant Government authorities or development agencies, the United Nations officials reported today.\r\n\r\nAs early as tomorrow the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) plans to hand over of the role of coordinating international activities in southern Lebanon to the UN Development Programme (UNDP).\r\n\r\nThe official end of humanitarian operations is scheduled for 24 October, according to OCHA's latest update.\r\n\r\nThe UN World Food Programme (WFP), which has taken the logistics lead in arranging cargo movements, will wind up those operations by 15 October. Since commercial traffic has resumed, WFP will support other agencies' transport needs and those of non-governmental organizations' (NGOs) through commercial means.\r\n\r\nBy the same date, it intends to complete its food distribution programme and is helping the Ministry of Social Affairs to establish a national food security and capacity-building strategy in its place.\r\n\r\nOn the water and sanitation front, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has agreed to serve as a clearing house for requests and information to relieve pressure on the Lebanese water authorities, while distributions of bottled water will be phased out in the coming weeks.\r\n\r\nThe transport of water to more than 100 villages in southern Lebanon will remain a priority for six to eight weeks. The water recovery process has been speeded by a ready supply of generators and the fact that electric power is coming back on line more quickly than anticipated.\r\n\r\nCoordination of de-mining activities will continue through the UN Mine Action Coordination Centre (UNMACC). To date, some 592 cluster bomb strike locations have been identified, and 40,000 cluster sub-munitions and other pieces of unexploded ordnance (UXO) have been cleared out of a possible total of 1 million. Fourteen people were killed and 90 injured from all types of unexploded ordnance in Lebanon from 14 August until 19 September.\r\n\r\nSome 200,000 people remain displaced due to the level of destruction and contamination by cluster sub-munitions and other UXO in their hometowns. Ten UN Environment Programme (UNEP) experts are due to arrive on Saturday to look at key environmental hazards including waste rubble, medical and industrial waste, coastal marine pollution, asbestos, and ground water contamination.\r\n\r\nA three-member delegation of the UN Human Rights Council is already in Lebanon and will remain there until 7 October to investigate what OCHA called "the systematic targeting and killing of civilians by Israel in Lebanon" as well as to examine the weapons used by Israel and their conformity with international law.\r\n\r\nThe team will meet with Government officials, the diplomatic community and representatives of civil society and will travel to areas affected by the recent conflict to collect evidence and witness accounts of the military operations.\r\n","author":"We love you Lebanon!","parent_id":180281,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2006-09-29 21:05:29","modified":"2006-09-29 21:05:29","fileurl":""}]}