Zintan municipality agrees with UNICEF on outreach support to over 3000 internally displaced families in the city
Tunis, Tunisia, 13 April 2015 –Mr. Mostafa Al Barooni, Mayor of Zintan Municipality and Dr. Ghassan Khalil, UNICEF Special Representative in Libya, signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen the capacity of Zintan municipal council in responding to the needs of displaced children and families and to improve protection and education services.
“Today’s signature with Zintan is another milestone in UNICEF’s partnerships with municipalities: with the focus on prevention of dropouts, integration of psychosocial support into schools and promotion of child rights,” Said Dr. Khalil.
The agreement is an attempt from both parties to alleviate the effect of the conflict on Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) hosted in the city. According to the reports of Zintan’s Social Affairs Services office, the city is hosting more than 17000 registered displaced persons; half of them are women and girls, in addition to 824 infants.
“Today’s signature with Zintan is another milestone in UNICEF’s partnerships with municipalities: with the focus on prevention of dropouts, integration of psychosocial support into schools and promotion of child rights"
“I am glad to sign the agreement with UNICEF, it gives us hope,” said Mr. Al Barooni”, we should provide our children with knowledge and raise them with a spirit of citizenship and peace”, he added.
The joint activities between UNICEF Libya Country Office and Zintan Municipality will include psychosocial support for the internally displaced children and families and the establishment of child friendly spaces. Other activities include interventions to prevent school dropouts, integration of school-based psychosocial activities and empowering adolescents and engaging their parents through local and community actions.
UNICEF and Zintan Municipality agreed to cooperate and mobilize resources, bearing in mind the responsibilities of each party contained in the Memorandum of Understanding.
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For further information and interview requests, please contact:
Mostafa Omar, UNICEF Libya, mosomar@unicef.org , +216 990 70 815
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