ROME, AUGUST 20 – The Italian deputy minister for foreign affairs, Emanuela Del Re, chaired today the first meeting of the Virtual Coordination Table for the Lebanon emergency, which was attended by representatives of Italian institutions and Ngos involved in the emergency in Beirut and other areas of the country.
The aim of the Coordination Table, convened by the Vice Minister, was to strengthen the coordination of Italian aid to Lebanon and the response of the Italian aid system, encouraging synergies and continuity between the emergency response and the post-emergency phase, while taking into account what Italy is doing as a system and that the social-economic effects of the Beirut explosions are not limited to the city area, but are having an impact in other areas of the country.
Del Re pointed out that needs assessment exercises initiated by the United Nations and humanitarian actors operating in Beirut are being carried out in Beirut and are being constantly updated. On August 14, the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) published a “Flash Appeal” to provide a response for about 300,000 people over a three-month time framework. The World Bank will also publish a “Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment” (RDNA) tomorrow, which will focus on recovery and reconstruction after the emergency.
The Vice Minister announced the intention to launch a further humanitarian flight from the United Nations base in Brindisi in the near future. In order to better plan the Italian contribution, Del Re indicated that a survey of the initiatives carried out, planned or in progress by government institutions and civil society that together make up the Italian system will be completed, and will continue in the coming days with a constant update. She therefore indicated the need to establish a working methodology to consolidate a coordinated and synergistic response of the Italian system to this emergency and facilitate the activities of the Embassy in Beirut in sharing analysis and information. (@OnuItalia)