World Bank Sets a Four Track Road-Map to Kick Start International Aid

Inger Andersen, World Bank vice president for the MENA region renewed on Saturday the International commitment to support Lebanon to cope with the influx of Syrian refugees and the need to translate aid to practical steps, assuring that political stability would encourage committing funds.

In an interview to the An-Nahar daily, Anderson stressed the necessity to be aware of the risks of spiking number of refugees on the economic and financial sectors as well as on Lebanon's society.

An international meeting in New York recently announced $339 million in additional humanitarian aid in response to the Syria crisis, including $74 million for Lebanon to support Syrian refugees that stood at 914,000, or nearly 21 percent of the country's population according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Andersen said the World Bank was working simultaneously on four tracks to secure and channel the resources to contain the emerging crisis.

The first track entails the necessity to benefit from aid previously offered by donor countries and organizations, while the second step is to create a trust fund to raise money.

Approving development projects and securing infrastructure financed by soft and long-term loans (between 15 and 20 years old) with an interest that does not exceed 1.5 percent, would constitute the third track.

The fourth step would aim at encouraging the private sector to join the investment projects to be funded.

Moreover, and regarding Lebanon's political instability in the absence of an effective executive authority Anderson stressed that donor countries and the international community prefer a stable and effective government, because it would encourage investment.

Whether the presence of Hizbullah in the government would impede aid offered to Lebanon, Anderson said that the world bank is not interested in that, “We work with 184 countries including Lebanon,” she said.

World Bank VP concluded that the funds will be marked for specific projects, and called for distinction between the humanitarian aid handled by the United Nations organizations ,which responds to the immediate needs of the displaced, and the development side handled by the World Bank.

She concluded saying that even though Lebanon needs a lot of potentials, expectations should not be pinned high since the aid offered in the first phase will be modest awaiting the establishment of the trust fund.