Mountain Says International Support Group for Lebanon Could Meet in Beirut
Ross Mountain, the U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon, has warned that the needs of the region's states, including Lebanon, are growing as result of the war in Syria, hoping that donor countries would assist the country at the upcoming conference in Kuwait.
He also revealed that the International Support Group for Lebanon could meet in Beirut this year.
In an interview with An Nahar daily published on Friday, Mountain said: “The needs and the demands linked to the Syrian crisis, which also include Lebanon, are growing.”
“I visited several capitals … and I am in contact with the embassies here,” he stated. “My message to the donors was clear that we want to see a vision on how to deal with the funding.”
“The donors could provide finding to the (Lebanese) government, through the U.N. Agencies or the World Bank,” Mountain told An Nahar.
Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas said earlier this month that Lebanon will ask the international community for 2.1 billion dollars in assistance at the Kuwait donors conference on March 31.
He said 37 percent of the assistance that Lebanon will ask for will be allocated for government spending and the remaining 63 percent will cover humanitarian cases such as aid to Lebanon's most vulnerable communities and the refugees.
Asked about Derbas' claims, Mountain said: “This is our objective.”
“We informed the international community about Lebanon's real needs and what should be done to keep it stable,” he added.
The U.N. official told An Nahar that there are now around 1.2 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon although there are no exact figures.
“This is good because there were expectations for their numbers to reach 1.4 million by the end of 2014,” he said.
Mountain also revealed that there have been consultations between U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Sigrid Kaag and Prime Minister Tammam Salam on the possibility of holding a meeting for the International Support Group for Lebanon in Beirut later this year.
The group was inaugurated in New York in September 2013 on the sidelines of the 68th session of the General Assembly.
It has held several meetings to underline its continued commitment to working together to mobilize support for Lebanon’s sovereignty and state institutions and to promote efforts to help it address the challenges it faces.
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Source: Agence France Presse
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