UN agencies provide humanitarian assistance to Libya

UNITED NATIONS, April 19 (Xinhua) -- UN agencies are providing humanitarian assistance to the people in Misrata, Libya's third- largest city, and other parts of the North African country, UN spokesman Farhan Haq said here Tuesday.

According to UN estimates, nearly half a million people had fled Libya since the beginning of hostilities in the nation in mid- February, and around 330,000 people have been internally displaced.

To ease the suffering of civilians in Libya, the World Food Program (WFP), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) are trying to provide assistance in the country, particularly in areas heavily-ravaged by fighting, Haq said.

After managing to open a humanitarian corridor into western Libya, a WFP convoy of eight trucks with enough food for 50,000 people for 30 days arrived in western Libya on Monday, he said.

On Wednesday, UNICEF is expected to provide supplies including first aid kits, drinking water, water purification tablets, hygiene material and recreational material for children to 15,000 to 25,000 people in conflict-torn Misrata, the only city still partly held by rebels in government-controlled western Libya, Haq said.

Synthesizing the reports from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the WHO, the number of Libyan refugees in Tunisia was growing and the hospital in Misrata was overwhelmed, Haq added.

Source: Xinhua.
Link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-04/20/c_13836578.htm.