South African aid organisation Gift of the Givers will probably travel to war-torn Lebanon over the weekend to deliver humanitarian aid, its chairperson said on Wednesday.
Imtiaz Sooliman said the organisation has received all clearances from Syria to fly there and take the goods to Lebanon.
”The package includes food, baby feed, mattresses, linen, blankets, cooking and eating utensils, water-purification tablets, sanitary pads and disposable nappies,” Sooliman said.
He said Gift of the Givers is putting on hold plans to take a medical team along as it seems Lebanon has enough teams already.
”There is, however, a desperate demand for medical supplies to cater for the needs of the internally displaced populations and those that are recovered from the south,” Sooliman said.
He said Gift of the Givers had by last week had enough humanitarian aid and medical supplies ready for one trip, but there were still diplomatic and safety issues that needed to be resolved.
”Our Department of Foreign Affairs is in negotiations with the Syrian and Lebanese governments to secure all permissions and guarantees timeously to permit departure of the relief team, media and supplies by the weekend,” he said. — Sapa