Contents

1. Overall situation in Lebanon
2. Operational Updates: Cargo Movement, Shipping and Airlift
3. Working with partners
4. Mapping/GIS and Roads
5. Joint Supply Tracker (JST)

1. Overall Situation in Lebanon:

The ceasefire which came into effect on August 14th is holding, although on the 19th and 23rd of August there were reports of artillery fire in East Lebanon and Shebaa. Both Italy and France have now offered to command the expanded UN peacekeeping force, with Italy proposing 3,000 troops and France proposing 2,000. UNFIL intend to deploy around 15,000 soldiers in total for the peacekeeping operation. 200 French troops arrived on August 21st, then an additional 170 specialised in demining and reconstruction reached southern Lebanon on August 25th. Meanwhile the IDF has withdrawn from Bint Jbeil and UNIFIL is handing control of the area over to the LAF on August 25th. Lebanon remains at a phase 4 security level, although a request to lower this is pending a response from the Secretary General.

UXO:

UXO and mortar shells still remain a serious issue of concern and all UN staff are required to attend a UXO awareness briefing and to carry Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) during any travel outside Beirut.
249 confirmed scatterable munitions locations have been identified in Lebanon. The United Nations Mine Action Coordination Centre South Lebanon (UNMACC SL) has covered only 60% of the area of operations and have revised upwards their estimate of possible strikes from 200 to 300 plus. The risk of UXO poses a major hazard for returning civilian populations and responding aid organizations alike.  (For detailed information please refer to: www.maccsl.org)
As of August 22nd, the National Demining Office (NDO) reported 8 fatalities and 28 casualties due to UXO. UNMACC is coordinating the expansion of clearance efforts, with new teams expected in Lebanon to build capacity for this task. Currently it is estimated that it could take up to 12 months to clear UXO from the country. UNHCR and the Lebanese Mine Centre are cooperating on a UXO clearance program, while Handicap International has also begun training Lebanese Deming teams to assist in the process. UN aid convoys and United Nations Department for Safety and Security (UNDSS) patrols are accompanied by a MACC SL representative to guide and brief them on local cluster bomb locations. MACC SL also provides daily guides to all OCHA organised Joint Assessment Missions.
UNJLC is producing Hazards to Movement maps which incorporate the latest MACC SL information on cleared roads and explosive hazards. For more information and downloads please see www.unjlc.org/lebanon/maps

2. Operational Updates

New CLPs have been established in Tyre and Saida (Lebanon). WFP considers that, with the green light for movements on the route from Damascus to Lebanon, transportation costs of items coming form Syria will be reduced so the CLP in Aarida (Syria) will be downsized but maintained until the end of the Flash appeal period.
WFP is finalising the installation of storage capacity in Tyre where 2 Wiikhalls have been set up, one at Tyre port and one in the premises of UNMACC office. Another mobile storage will be established once an appropriate location has been identified. This will be available to store UN Cluster commodities.

A joint interagency assessment mission comprising OCHA, WFP, UNFPA, UNRWA, UNICEF and UNHCR took place in the Bekaa valley area to assess the humanitarian situation and examine the possibility of establishing a joint UN humanitarian hub in Zahle. A final report will be made available in the coming days.
Another interagency assessment mission (WFP, UNHCR, UNICEF and OCHA) travelled to Markabe, Houle, Meiss El and Jabel. Preliminary findings indicate damages to water and sanitation systems, lack of power and communication networks, and extensive destruction to infrastructure such as roads, fuel stations, commercial properties, schools and health facilities. An urgent need for water, non food items and medical supplies has been identified for those living in these villages.
A revised Modus Operandi for the Logistic Cluster was created for the revised Flash appeal. The document is available on UNJLC/LOGS CLUSTER webpage http://www.unjlc.org/lebanon/coordination

Cargo Movement:

With the holding ceasefire in the last week, convoys of food and non food item have reached: Masnaa, Hasbaya, Beiteddine, Tyre, Majdil Silim, Marjeyoun, Nabatiye,Houla, Ayta Al Chaab.
The fuel situation in Lebanon has improved substantially since the ceasefire came into effect. A tanker is arrived in Beirut to deliver fuel.  The RoRo Anancara vessel delivered two 28,000 L tankers of gasoline and fuel for UNHCR. 
The Lebanese Ministry of Finance is reworking customs clearance procedures for UN agencies and NGOs. Currently for commodities arriving on WFP chartered transport, WFP can complete the custom clearance. For commodities arriving independently, UN agencies will go through the Lebanese Higher Relief Commission (HRC) and NGOs will go through the Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSA) for clearance.

Shipping:

The WFP chartered Ro-Ro (roll-on-roll-off) vessel “Anamcara” continued its rotations carrying food and non food items from Cyprus to Beirut and Tyre.

These rotations will be maintained until at least September 4th.
The Italian government vessel “San Marco” arrived in Beirut on the 19th of August carrying medical supplies, food and non food items for WFP and WHO and the Lebanese High Relief Commission.
The next sailing of the passenger vessel Vittoria between Cyprus and Beirut took place on 25th August.
Four Government of Lebanon vessels, the Aphrodite, Psara, Rosetta and LPG arrived in Beirut on August 24th carrying fuel.

Airlift:

On request from OCHA, two German government C-160s have been made available to transport cargo from Cyprus to Beirut. The first rotation took place on the August 22nd carrying a shipment of goods for WFP and WHO. Current plans are for one flight per day until the 4th of September and will include shipments for ICRC, UNHCR, WFP and Emercom. More detailed information is available on the webpage http://www.unjlc.org/lebanon/air
 A Belgian C-130 and a Portuguese C-130 are flying rotations between Jordan and Beirut carrying goods for UNHCR, including tents, blankets and plastic sheets.
Royal Air Jordan confirmed that it will be running three flights a day into Beirut, while Middle East Airlines is gradually reintroducing services from Beirut, while operating a new schedule providing for additional flights via the Jordanian capital. This schedule includes services through Amman to Dubai, Cairo, Kuwait, Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, Larnaca, and to Frankfurt, London and Paris.

3. Working with partners:

The UNJLC operation in Lebanon is a successful example of the employment of partners within the activities of the UN agencies. Through partnerships, UNJLC is able to secure reliable support of critical skills and services. The Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation’s (VVAF) Information Management and Mine Action Program (iMMAP) is one such partner.

VVAF is an international non-governmental organization that addresses the causes, conduct and consequences of war through programs of advocacy and service of victims of conflict.  iMMAP is a leading advocate for the establishment of humanitarian relief and development standards for the practical use of information management and geographic information systems [GIS] in support of decision-making, defining the Common Operating Picture and promoting inter-organizational coordination, planning and collaboration. VVAF’s iMMAP specializes in the operational application of cutting edge information management, survey, analysis and geographic information system (GIS) technologies and services. These services provide a core component of UNJLC’s successful services.  For Lebanon, UNJLC asked for VVAF support based on the recently concluded Standby Partnership Agreement signed between WFP and VVAF, but also on a long running collaboration between the two organizations.  In Lebanon the iMMAP seconded team is the focal point for the Government and international community on all hazards to movement. The uncertainty of widespread explosive remnants of war and the imperative of a rapidly returning civilian population made information on how to reach them safely of paramount importance. The iMMAP team has forged strong relations and data sharing agreements with the UN Mine Action Coordination Center - South Lebanon and with the Field Security Services to compile up to date information on road conditions, bridge damage and other hazards to movement. The team has provided all routing for WFP/Logistics Cluster coordinated convoys as well as route maps submitted to for clearance to the Israeli Defense Forces.  The team liaises with the Lebanese Ministry of Public Works and The Ministry of the Interior to acquire damage information. The Hazards to Movement map series is widely regarded and a high demand product. 
Stationed in Lebanon for a period of two months, iMMAP’s specialists will support humanitarian aid and early recovery efforts by coordinating field data collection on the status of transport infrastructure. 

4. Mapping /GIS and Roads

Within the efforts for the reconsolidation process of data provided by Lebanese authorities, UNJLC/VVAF GIS officers were able to produce a series of Hazard to Movement maps for the following districts/caza: Chouf, Jezzine, Marjaayoun Nabatye, Rachaya, Saida, Sour and West Beka’a. A map catalogue and map request forms are available on the UNJLC/UN Cluster webpage: http://unjlc.org/lebanon/maps
 The GIS section has undertaken the task of reconciling the significant amounts of bridge damage and destruction data being issued. Bridge damage assessments are being generated remotely by the UNOSAT and US Government through satellite image interpretation. These data sets identify locations but do not provide local naming and other descriptive information. Once completed, this reconciliation will provide for much greater accuracy in all maps of the affected area.
 
Road accessibility:

Work is underway to repair damaged roads throughout Lebanon as well as the Beirut International Airport.
The access status of all major roads and border crossing points is now green, with the exception of the Al-Aboudieh crossing. Extreme caution is still required when travelling in the south of Lebanon and the southern Beirut suburbs due to the risk of UXO.
A UNOSAT damage assessment of Tyre region performed with OCHA support has identified 350 damage sites in the area. Of this total, 156 were either destroyed or severely damaged. (For more info and images please refer to http://unosat.web.cern.ch/unosat/freeproducts/lebanon/UNOSAT_Damage_Overview_Map_Tyre_v1_0_lowres.jpg.)
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the mayors of Bint Jbeil and Tyre districts have signed contracts for rubble clearance, road and building repair projects in 21 villages.

• Heavy traffic is reported on the junction road between Ouadi ez Zeine and Khiam Ed Damour in the vicinity of destroyed bridge (N 33° 20031’ – E 035°29434’). Military Police regulating traffic.
• Ed Damour in the vicinity of a destroyed bridge (N 33° 20031’ – E 035°29434’). Military Police are regulating traffic.
• The Khardale Bridge (N 33° 20556’ – E 035°32563’) has collapsed. A few meters from the bridge a provisional transit road has been created which is sufficient for land cruisers and trucks.
  

Bridges:

French Military engineers have started building bridges on highways south of the Lebanese capital, while Government crews have begun filling in the craters on bombed-out roads. According to the Lebanese Higher Relief Commission, Saad and Behaeddine Al Hariri will provide funding for the reconstruction of nine bridges destroyed by Israeli strikes in the southern part of the city and its neighbouring areas. The El Aadbe bridge, approximately located 4 km north El Aadbe, suffered two blasts causing extensive structural damage. The bridge not will accept vehicles greater than GVM 5MT on the northbound lanes or the inside southbound lane. On the underside of the bridge the structural steel has delaminated from the concrete, and these lanes could fail under convoy loads. Another two-lane bridge located at N34, 34’50.75" E35, 59’30.18" has sustained two blasts which have caused major damage. Currently traffic across the bridge is sharing a single lane, with loose sand and mud filling the crater. A complete list of damaged bridges, coordinates, status, and organization is available on: www.unjlc.org/lebanon.
The list was made by fusing the UNOSAT point set, the USG damage set and Ministry of Public Works and Ministry of Interior narrative reports. UNJLC/VVAF read through these data, manually integrated and attributed all location information. UNJLC/VVAF will also be updating the list periodically.

5. Joint Supply Tracker (JST)

UNJLC continued on the efforts to prioritize all non food items (NFI) using the Joint Supply Tracker (JST), developed in collaboration with UNICEF staff.  Purposes of JST are to:
1. Increase pipeline visibility and transparency;
2. Track NFI from CLPs up to Extended Delivery Point (EDP);
3. Prioritize supply movements in accordance with agency needs.
A first report of the JST is available on the following table, while regular updates will be published on: www.unjlc.org/lebanon/supply

Consolidated Cargo tracking (Weight in Kgs)
Country (Weight in Kgs)
Date: 24 August 2006

UNJLC Cyprus is located at San Remo Hotel, W. Shakespeare 1 6531, Larnaca, Cyprus.
Tel.: +357 24 62 0081

UNJLC Contacts e-mails:
General Information: Lebanon@unjlc.org
GIS: Lebanon.maps@unjlc.org
Cargo: Lebanon.cargo@unjlc.org