'At times like this, every euro makes a huge difference'
Some 80,000 children have been forced to flee their homes following the recent Beirut explosions and people in Tipperary are being urged to help provide vital assistance to the children and families affected.
Nenagh native and UNICEF Ireland Digital Marketing Officer Sarah Moyles said: “The explosions left at least 140 people dead, 5,000 injured and hundreds missing. It is a truly tragic situation for children and UNICEF is concerned that many children have suffered trauma and remain in shock.
“UNICEF has over 200 humanitarian workers on the ground and is scaling up its response to meet the urgent needs of families affected, focusing on health, water and the wellbeing of children. However, our teams need our support and we’re making an urgent appeal for Irish people to do what they can to protect the children of Lebanon.
"Ireland has an incredible connection and history with the Lebanon and we’ve already been overwhelmed with the response we’ve seen. At times like this, every euro makes a huge difference.”
The port of Beirut – where the explosion took place – is the main lifeline of the country. It is now totally destroyed. Following the disaster there have been numerous reports of children who have been separated from family members, some of whom are still missing. A children’s hospital, which had a specialised unit treating critical newborns, was destroyed and the remaining operational hospitals are over-stretched and have been depleted of vital medical supplies.
With Covid-19 rates also already high in Lebanon, 10 containers of critically needed Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) were destroyed and there are growing fears of a further spike in cases.
“UNICEF teams have been working around the clock to provide people affected with much needed assistance. It’s an unbelievably challenging environment but we must do what we can to ensure children are protected and kept safe,” said Ms Moyles.
UNICEF is responding to the children’s emergency in Lebanon on several fronts, prioritising the distribution of drinking water, providing support to children to help them cope with bereavement and trauma, supporting the reunification of children separated from their families, securing life-saving vaccine supplies, conducting damage assessments and working with youth volunteers helping with the clean-up in different areas.
To support children in Lebanon, you can donate to UNICEF’s Emergency Lebanon Appeal at www.unicef.ie