France has indicated that it hopes to raise nearly 350 million dollars in aid to the Lebanese population during the conference to be held on August 4, the first anniversary of the tragedy in the port of Beirut.
As a reminder, the explosion of a cargo of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate left more than 200 dead, 6,500 injured and nearly 300,000 people were homeless at the time.
This conference is co-organized by the President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron and the Secretary General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres. It should allow the organization of aid via the World Bank and the UN in cooperation with the Lebanese Army, due to one party’s lack of confidence in Lebanese civil institutions, considered corrupt, and other share due to the worsening degradation of social and economic conditions, with strong concerns about food security, problems related to failing medical structures and water and electricity supply.
It is a question, note French diplomatic sources, of avoiding the collapse of Lebanon by coming to the aid of its population and by avoiding collaborating with the political class which is slow to put in place a government, a precondition for the implementation of the economic, monetary and administrative reforms necessary to fight corruption. These same sources also point out that European sanctions targeting certain local politicians could come into force tomorrow.
