Iran's Football Federation Kick Starts CampaignTehran August 20th, 2006 – The Iranian Football Federation has donated $30,000 to UNICEF Iran’s Children of Lebanon Appeal to help support UNICEF’s ongoing relief efforts in Lebanon. The money came from a charity football match that took place earlier this month between the Iranian Celebrities’ Club (ICC) and a team made up of two of Iran’s most popular clubs, Pirouzi and Esteghlal. “We have been watching the images of the effects of war on children and wanted to help,” said Dariush Mostafavi, General Secretary of Iran’s Football Federation. “We decided to give to UNICEF after we heard they were raising funds to support the children of Lebanon.” The announcement of the donation comes on the day UNICEF Iran launches its ‘Children of Lebanon Appeal’ which aims to raise some of the $25.2 million requested by UNICEF to provide humanitarian assistance to women and children who were caught up in the conflict. “We are extremely grateful for this generous donation from Iran’s Football Federation”, said Christian Salazar Volkmann, UNICEF Representative in Iran. “This money will help UNICEF provide both immediate relief and long term rehabilitation of essential services for children.” A UNICEF assessment team recently found that in 42 out of 70 villages in the district of Tyre, water systems have been severely damaged. Therefore there is an urgent need for expanding the distribution of bottled water, the rehabilitation of water and sanitation systems, placement of water tanks and water trucking. Although thousands of families have started to return home, there are reportedly still more than 200,000 people internally displaced (IDPs), including more than 7,000 living in schools and public gardens in and around Beirut. An estimated 45% of the IDPs are children. Many of those who have decided to return home will be shocked at what they discover. Several villages have been more than 80% destroyed, especially in the district of Tyre. Another major challenge includes the threat of unexploded ordnance (UXO) and landmines. Six children are currently receiving treatment in Tyre hospital for injuries caused by remnants of cluster bombs. UNICEF and its partners are involved in a public awareness campaign to alert people to the dangers of unexploded ordnance.
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