Libya, The Project To Treat Ten Children Continues

LEGGI IN ITALIANO

Treatment for ten Libyan children thanks to an initiative of Terre des Hommes and FCEI, funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation

Rome, 18 July 2019 – 10 seriously ill Libyan children will be treated thanks to the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS). The humanitarian project, strongly supported by the Libyan authorities, will be carried out by Terre des Hommes together with Mediterranean Hope, a program for refugees and migrants promoted by the FCEI.

One or two of these children, suffering from heart disease, will be transferred to the Gaslini hospital in Genova to undergo cardiac surgery  in the next weeks. The International Evangelical Hospital of Genoa has made itself available for the reception of parents who will accompany their children.

“Libya is experiencing a period of extreme instability and seriously ill children that belong to the most vulnerable segments of the population do not have the opportunity to receive adequate care and risk their lives,” explains Bruno Neri, project manager for Terre des Hommes in Libya. “For this reason, thanks to the fundamental support of the Italian Embassy in Tripoli, in February we started a health care intervention involving the Children Hospital in Tripoli and the Hospital and Municipality of Zintan (a town 200 km west of Tripoli on the border with Tunisia)”.

“In recent weeks  we have continued to monitor and evaluate the cases that have been submitted to us by the Libyan partner hospital: ten children aged between two and 14 years, suffering from various types of diseases. The children will be treated in Tunis, while we considered it essential to move two of them to Italy because of the particular sensitivity of the intervention to which they must be subjected. It is a small pilot project  which also provides training in Tunis or in Italy of some health workers of the Hospital of Zintan, so as to make possible rehabilitation programs for some of the children treated in Tunis and possibly for others who, as we hope, can be included in future programs.” Luciano Griso, doctor, project manager of FCEI said.

This project is part of the more general commitment of Terre des Hommes and Mediterranean Hope-FCEI to protect the right to asylum and international protection through the opening of a humanitarian corridor from Libya to Europe for the most vulnerable.

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Since 1960, Terre des Hommes has been at the forefront of protecting children around the world from violence, abuse and exploitation, and ensuring that every child receives schooling, informal education, medical care and food. Terre des Hommes is currently present in 67 countries with 816 projects in favour of children. The Terre des Hommes Italia Foundation is part of the Terre des Hommes International Federation, works in partnership with EU DG ECHO and is accredited by the European Union, the UN, USAID and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For information: www.terredeshommes.it.

Mediterranean Hope (MH) is a project on migration promoted by the FCEI, established in 2014 to face the drama of migration from North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East. Then, the FCEI together with the Waldensian Board decided to start a humanitarian and social project, aimed at the reception and integration of refugees who intend to stay in Italy. MH is financed largely by the 8 per thousand of the Waldensian Church – Union of Methodist and Waldensian Churches. Today, the project is responsible for monitoring the reception through its Observatory on migration active in Lampedusa, the Casa delle Culture (House of Cultures) in Scicli, Sicily, safe passages, with humanitarian corridors and rescue at sea, working with some NGOs. For information: www.mediterraneanhope.com.