Report of the Executive Board of the United Nations Children’s Fund on the work of its 2007 annual session
* The present document is an advance version of the report of the Executive Board of the United Nations Children’s Fund on its annual session (4-7 June 2007). The report on the first regular session (15-18 January 2007) was issued as part I, and the report of the second regular session
(5-7 September 2007) will be combined with parts I and II and issued in final form as Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 2007, Supplement 14 (E/2007/34/Rev.1-E/ICEF/2007/7/Rev.1).
G. Proposals for UNICEF programme cooperation
(a) Draft country programme documents
Middle East and North Africa
87. The Regional Director introduced the draft country programmes for Djibouti, Jordan, and Palestinian women and children in Jordan, Lebanon, the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the Syrian Arab Republic (E/ICEF/2007/P/L.23, E/ICEF/2007/P/L.24 and E/ICEF/2007/P/L.25), and the short-duration programmes for Lebanon and Sudan (E/ICEF/2007/P/L.26 and E/ICEF/2007/P/L.27).
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91. The delegate from the Syrian Arab Republic appreciated UNICEF efforts to meet the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi and Palestinian populations of his country and of the region. With modest resources, the Government was currently hosting 1.4 million refugees, of whom some 35 per cent were children aged five to eight years.
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92. The representative of Lebanon …
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93. Speaking about Palestinians living in Lebanon, he said that recent attacks on the Palestinian refugee camps had led to the suffering of more than 27,000 displaced Palestinians. He reminded the Executive Board of the recent appeal to the international community for $12.7 million for essential food and non-food assistance. The Regional Director said that the Executive Director had released $500,000 from the Emergency Programme Fund to support the programmes in Lebanon, in coordination with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
94. Referring to the programme for Palestinian women and children in Jordan, Lebanon, the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the Syrian Arab Republic, the representative of Palestine acknowledged the harm to Palestinians, including children, resulting from internal Palestinian conflict; however, mentioning this in the same paragraph that described the consequences of 40 years of occupation implied equal responsibility for the current dire situation. Another speaker requested more details on the most common forms of violence facing children and reiterated the need to provide gender perspectives on vulnerabilities. A delegation requested clarification on funding and coordination between UNICEF and UNRWA, and suggested that the programme include details on increasing access to services for the integrated management of childhood illness, as well as emergency preparedness plans. The Regional Director said that UNRWA was the lead agency for the Palestinians, and UNICEF provided support in such specific areas as training of teachers and child-friendly schools.
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