LEBANON: Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the follow-up to the report of the Commission of Inquiry

The present report outlines a wide range of activities and programmes launched by the international community that give concrete follow-up to the Commission of Inquiry’s recommendations. It also highlights the importance of integrating human rights in any recovery process to ensure increased sustainability, as can be seen clearly in post-war Lebanon.

In her report, the High Commissioner for Human Rights cites the following children’s issues:

• The World Health Organization carried out an urgent immunization campaign at the end of July, which covered 20,898 children under 15 years of age against measles, and 8,345 children under 5 years of age against polio. In October and November, UNICEF provided anti-polio vaccines to 300,000 children, with the aim of keeping Lebanon a polio-free country.
• Various initiatives by UNICEF and WHO support the provision of psychosocial assistance and basic counselling to more than 300,000 children who suffered various kinds of distress or trauma during the conflict.
• WHO and UNICEF support technically and financially a number of specialized NGOs operating in the most affected areas that address the mental health of children. UNICEF also supports Youth Information Centres for adolescents, aiming at promoting alternatives to violence through dialogue and basic vocational training.
• Child protection is being formalized, with a child-protection monitoring system being established within the Ministry of Social Affairs, which will continue to identify and respond to the needs of children.
• UNICEF reports that the Child Protection sub-cluster created a system for coordination and information exchange and provided a platform through which to assess, discuss and address emerging child protection issues. It looked at psychosocial support, violence, mine risk education, the needs of children who are more vulnerable due to their gender, disability, and refugee status.
• A number of NGOs presented their work and described projects to support children. The presentations were followed by a discussion of the child’s right to participate in decisions affecting his/her life and psychosocial support following the conflict.
• A second meeting focused on children, including child protection policies, the role of the Protection Working Group in assessing and following up on needs and activities, issues related to mine risk education, and the recent establishment of a disability coordination group.
• The Office of the Resident Coordinator reports that, in the immediate aftermath of the war, UNICEF cleaned and disinfected 86 schools in Beirut vacated by IDPs; equipped all primary schools with UNICEF “School-in-a-Carton” kits; provided school supplies and school bags for 350,000 children in primary grades and preschool level in public schools. UNICEF also launched a back-to-school campaign, which was crucial in making the necessary links between relief and recovery.