This week, UNIFIL ramped up the provision of food and other essential assistance to hundreds of people displaced from the mission’s area of operations in south Lebanon due to ongoing hostilities and currently living outside collective shelters in various locations in the north.
Tens of thousands of people from the mission’s area of operations, between the Litani River and the Blue Line, were forced to flee northward in the wake of the escalation of violence in early March. Working in coordination with local charities, UNIFIL peacekeepers have made efforts, within their means and capabilities, to find and assist these internally displaced persons (IDPs).
Earlier this week, several donation events were held to assist the displaced families. In Fanar (north-east of Beirut), UNIFIL peacekeepers delivered essential items – including food kits, drawing notebooks for children, and a range of cleaning supplies – to the local charity “Baitna Kitchens Association” for onward distribution to IDPs from the south and living in the area. On the same day, in Sabtiyeh (north-east of Beirut), peacekeepers provided food kits to the IDPs living in the area through the charity “Our Lady of the Divine Mercy Pastoral Centre”, helping address their immediate food security needs. Further north in Jeita, food kits along with blankets and clothing for men, women and children were donated for distribution among displaced families through the charity “Latin Vicariate” and the following day to the charity “Raising Up Lebanon Association” in Beirut to subsequently support elderly IDPs living in the area.
UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Major General Diodato Abagnara said these coordinated efforts underscore UNIFIL’s ongoing commitment to supporting civilian populations affected by the conflict, particularly those displaced from their homes in the south.
“It is important to help ease some of the hardships faced by these people, who have lived alongside our peacekeepers in the south for generations,” said Major General Abagnara. “Providing them with some peace of mind is another way of contributing to restoring stability in the south, and this is the minimum we can do.”
In addition to their core peacekeeping duties, UNIFIL peacekeepers have been supporting affected communities in the south since the onset of the current round of conflict.
