MULTI-AGENCY HUMANITARIAN ASSESSMENT MISSION TO VISIT SOUTH OSSETIA, GEORGIA

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

A humanitarian assessment mission, led by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and comprising representatives of key United Nations humanitarian agencies, namely the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Food Programme (WFP), and a representative of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), will visit South Ossetia and Tbilisi from 17 to 20 September.  The objective of the mission is to gain first-hand knowledge of the humanitarian and human rights situations and needs on the ground, including the position of those displaced by the conflict and other vulnerable groups.  The results of the mission will feed into the revision of the humanitarian flash appeal launched on 18 August.  The mission has been coordinated with the Russian and Georgian authorities and will visit Moscow, South Ossetia and Tbilisi.

The United Nations is also planning a broader fact-finding mission to the region.

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For information media • not an official record