VZCZCXRO2914
OO RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ
DE RUEHDM #4236 2401353
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 281353Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1256
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD PRIORITY 0192
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 004236 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
PARIS FOR WALLER, LONDON FOR TSOU, PRM/FO, AMMAN FOR GREEN, 
CAIRO FOR CHEYNE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF PHUM PGOV SY LE
SUBJECT: UNICEF ACTING REPRESENTATIVE SKETCHES OUT SYRIA 
SITUATION 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) The Charg paid a courtesy call August 27 on 
UNICEF's acting director, Marc Lucet, who said that UNHCR, 
WFP and UNICEF planned to do a joint assessment of the 
remaining displaced Lebanese who are thought to be staying 
in private homes in about six locations in Syria.  UN 
agencies had reports so far of only a few Lebanese returning 
to 
Syria, although they expect some Lebanese may eventually use 
Syria as a safehaven during the rebuilding of their homes, 
Lucet said. 
 
¶2.  (U) UNHCR and UNICEF plan to stockpile relief supplies 
in Syria, sufficient for one month for 20,000 people, Lucet 
said.  UNHCR's supplies would primarily deal with shelter, 
while UNICEF would include hygiene and health items, as 
well as recreational supplies. 
 
¶3.  (U) UNICEF is making preparations to support 2,500 
displaced Lebanese, primarily in Damascus and its 
surroundings, as well as Homs, Lucet said.  It is also 
rehabilitating, in direct coordination with the Ministry of 
Education, 30 schools that were occupied by displaced 
Lebanese, and it will assist the Ministry of Social Affairs 
and Labor in the establishment of five centers to host up 
to 2,000 persons as a contingency for any future crisis, he 
said. 
 
¶4.  (U) Separately, UNICEF plans to assist up to 2,000 of 
the most vulnerable Iraqi families in Syria, in hopes of 
boosting the school attendance rate of Iraqi children, 
given figures indicating that up to 30 percent of displaced 
Iraqi children in Syria do not attend school, Lucet said. 
UNICEF's regional headquarters, based in Amman, is focused 
on dealing with the issue of displaced Iraqis in the same 
way that it regionally handles assistance to Palestinians, 
the UNICEF acting director said. 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  The UN Resident Coordinator's office in Damascus 
said Monday that it has canceled 
donor consultations in Damascus, after postponing the meeting 
originally set for August 22. 
CORBIN