08/04/2006

Kristele Younes and Sarah Martin filed the following report from Beirut on August 4, 2006.

An estimated 900,000 Lebanese are displaced, with nearly 700,000 in Lebanon, where about 75% are living with host families, and about 200,000 in Syria. The number of Lebanese in Syria is growing quickly as approximately 5,000 to 10,000 enter Syria every day. An estimated 80% of the population in the Lebanese area south of Tyre (Sur) have fled north.

Urgent needs in order of priority and gaps

Security/Access: Humanitarian aid still can’t reach large parts of the south. Bridges to and from Beirut have been destroyed; the only road that was available for truck convoys from the north was destroyed last night. There have been very few convoys: the International Committee for the Red Cross said that it still needs a green light from the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) for each convoy, but that it does not often get clearance. Access is difficult for everyone.

Fuel: There are shortages of fuel to run generators (for hospitals and water pumping stations) and convoys. Two fuel tankers waiting outside the naval blockade have been promised safe passage by the IDF, but the ships’ insurers are not willing to risk their movement without a third party to accompany them. The government of Lebanon has supposedly asked the US to do this.

Water: There is no running water in the south, and it is very difficult to get crews or convoys into the area. In the south, bottled water has been sent in for the approximately 120,000 still trapped there but that will be increasingly difficult to continue. There is very little information from the Bekka Valley regarding the situation there.

Sanitation: Beirut’s systems are beyond capacity to receive more people, and many other municipalities are in the same situation. In one of the park camps, where there are several hundred people, there were two functioning toilets and no showers.

Shelter: The Lebanese government has approached Swiss Cooperation and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to set up two shelters in a football stadium in the suburbs and in a neighborhood in Beirut. It is unclear whether there are sufficient supplies for shelter needs.

In general, everyone is aware of the needs but unable to respond yet.

Most relief agencies don’t have aid to distribute

From our impression, most international non governmental agencies (NGOs) on the scene are providing services but not many material goods because of the difficulties in getting anything into the country.

NGO impressions on UN coordination efforts

At the Protection Working Group meeting on August 3, there was only one international NGO present. The slow deployment of NGOs is worrisome as protection assessment forms are now being drawn up. There are child protection and women protection subgroups already functioning but it is unclear how many agencies are participating in them. The UN Humanitarian Coordinator (OCHA) noted that it has been slow to register international NGOS and strongly encouraged agencies to register on the 8th floor of the Mövenpick Hotel where OCHA had to relocate after the looting of the UN headquarters. Coordination is going very slowly. OCHA has been distributing information about coordination meetings but are slow to attend.

UN coordination is improving. UNHCR has sent the bulk of its emergency team here, and OCHA is up and running. The government of Lebanon needs as much support as possible. The UN has deployed about 30 staff specialists... The High Relief Commission (HRC) is struggling to getup and running, and the Commissioner is overwhelmed.

Critical developing concerns

The damage on the night of August 3 to the route from Syria in the north will make humanitarian convoys even more difficult; the destruction of the bridges from the south has turned a one-and-a-half hour trip to Tyre into a trip of six to seven hours. Lack of access by land and the difficulties caused by the sea blockade are also critical.

NGOs links with the Lebanese government and local organizations

From what OCHA has said to us, most international NGOs are working through local institutions but local partners are not present at any international coordination meetings. The Lebanese government has solicited proposals from some local NGOs but the government is slow in responding to them.

Top obstacles to effective delivery of assistance (beyond insecurity

• Lack of fuel. Currently, the World Food Programme has estimated that it has enough for 2 days and that the country has enough for one week. Without fuel supplies, the situation will become critical.
• Destruction of infrastructure.
• Road blockages, with huge mounds of rubble in the south.
• Lack of strong, accurate data about the location of the most affected populations.
• Many internally displaced people are staying with host families, making it hard to reach them in Beirut as well as in Syria.
• Capacity (many agencies who had staff in the south have lost communication with them) and coordination of humanitarian actors.