The Federation's mission is to improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity. It is the world's largest humanitarian organization and its millions of volunteers are active in 185 countries.
In Brief
This Bulletin is being issued for information only, and reflects the situation and the information available at this time. The Federation is not seeking funding or other assistance from donors for this operation at this time.
The International Federation undertakes activities that are aligned with its Global Agenda, which sets out four broad goals to achieve the Federation's mission to "improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity".
Global Agenda Goals:
- Reduce the numbers of deaths, injuries and impact from disasters.
- Reduce the number of deaths, illnesses and impact from diseases and public health emergencies.
- Increase local community, civil society and Red Cross Red Crescent capacity to address the most urgent situations of vulnerability.
- Reduce intolerance, discrimination and social exclusion and promote respect for diversity and human dignity.
The Situation
In the early hours of Sunday, 20 May, clashes erupted between the Lebanese Armed Forces and an armed group in the northern Lebanese town of Tripoli. The armed confrontation continued throughout the day and resulted in restricted movements for many civilians in the area. The fighting spread throughout the city and into the area of the Palestinian camp, Nahr el Bared, where confrontations have been ongoing since Sunday. As a result, movements of civilians from the camp were severely restricted and the overall circumstances of the affected population were reported as volatile.
A cease in the armed confrontations in the evening of 22 May allowed civilians to leave the camp of Nahr el Bared and seek refuge in the close-by Biddawi camp or in Tripoli town. It is currently difficult to have a full overview of the needs of the population, although the assessment of a team of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in close collaboration with Lebanese Red Cross (LRC), is ongoing. The situation continues to rapidly evolve and humanitarian actors are in the process of adjusting to the emerging needs.
For further information specifically related to this operation please contact:
In Lebanon: Sheikh Sami Dahdah, Lebanese Red Cross Society, President; email: redcross@dm.net.lb; phone: +961 1 37 28 02; fax: +961 1 37 82 07
In Lebanon: Anne-Katherine Moore Karlsen, Head of Delegation in Beirut; email: ak.moorekarlsen@ifrc.org; phone: +961 1 34 99 44; fax +961 1 34 99 33
In Geneva: Evgeni Parfenov, Regional Officer, MENA Department, Federation Secretariat; email: evgeni.parfenov@ifrc.org; phone: + 41 22 730 4325; fax: + 41 22 733 0395
All International Federation assistance seeks to adhere to the Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO's) in Disaster Relief and is committed to the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response (Sphere) in delivering assistance to the most vulnerable.
For longer-term programmes in this or other countries or regions, please refer to the Federation's Annual Appeal. For support to or for further information concerning Federation programmes or operations in this or other countries, or for national society profiles, please also access the Federation's website at http://www.ifrc.org