Round-up: Updates from Liberia and Lebanon

The Round-up offers a weekly sample of what our sister Red Cross Societies are working on around the world.

LIBERIA: Every year in mid-October, people around the world celebrate Global Handwashing Day as a 20151019_Liberia_Handwash_Main1-(1).jpgreminder of the importance of washing hands with soap. This year in Liberia, one of the three countries worst affected by Ebola in West Africa, proper handwashing is being promoted as a powerful tool in the fight against the deadly virus. At the beginning of September, Liberia was declared free of Ebola for the second time. However, the country is still under a 90-day period of heightened surveillance and the Liberian government and Liberia National Red Cross Society are urging people to continue observing preventative measures. The Red Cross is reinforcing this message by distributing handwashing kits, soap and chlorine to over 500 schools across the country.

LEBANON: For the past weeks, many Lebanese citizens have been taking to the streets of the capital Beirut to protest the trash crisis and the living conditions in the country. But the sit-ins have frequently turned into clashes between some demonstrators and state forces, leaving dozens of people from both sides with minor to severe injuries.  Through it all, the Lebanese Red Cross has been present on ground, deploying numerous teams of Emergency Medical Technicians, headquarter staff, dispatchers, along with a fleet of several ambulances, a Mobile Command Vehicle, and a Mobile Dispatch Unit. The National Society also placed several additional teams and ambulances on standby, in case the situation on ground unexpectedly escalated. And the recent demonstrations and their resulting clashes have demonstrated once again the highly ethical and purely professional values of Lebanese Red Cross volunteers and staff; protesters, bystanders and state forces have all praised the National Society’s assistance to the wounded without any discrimination and its readiness to interfere and provide help whenever needs rose. 

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