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Add to Preferred SourcesUNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is working to assist those affected by the blast that tore through Lebanon’s capital Beirut earlier this month, including Lebanese, refugees and other victims of the disaster, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said during a visit to the city.
The explosion on 4 August claimed more than 180 lives, left over 6,500 people with injuries and caused widespread damage to around 200,000 households. The destruction came on top of a financial crisis that had already crippled the country’s economy, and which was further exacerbated by the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.
“We as humanitarian organizations and the whole aid community must stand alongside the people of Beirut in their hour of need,” Grandi said during his first field mission since the start of the COVID-19 crisis. “I have pledged UNHCR’s full support to those whose lives were upended in the explosion, whether Lebanese, refugees, or migrants.”
As part of its emergency response to meet the vast needs of people affected by the blast, UNHCR is mobilizing US$35 million to assist the most vulnerable households in the capital. This package includes US$32.6 million in support for 100,000 people whose homes were heavily damaged in the explosion and a further US$2.44 million on protection services such as trauma counselling and legal aid.
Original source: UNHCR