Lebanon donor conference exceeds aid target

PARIS: An international donor conference collected hundreds of millions of dollars in urgent aid for Lebanon on Wednesday, exceeding an initial target, cohosts France said.

French President Emmanuel Macron had aimed to raise at least US$350 million in emergency aid for the battered Lebanese population from the participants in the conference including US President Joe Biden, Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi, Lebanon’s own President Michel Aoun and the International Monetary Fund.

In the end, new pledges totalled around US$370 million, Macron’s office said. In addition, there were promises of “substantial aid in kind”.

But as world leaders dug into their pockets to help, they also said that Lebanon’s leaders needed to do better in dealing with the fallout from last year’s massive blast that claimed hundreds of lives in Beirut.

“I think that Lebanese leaders... owe their people the truth and transparency,” Macron told the conference which coincided with the anniversary of the disaster.

The Aug 4, 2020, explosion in the Beirut port killed at least 214 people, traumatising the nation and bringing an already stuttering economy closer to the brink of collapse.

Fuel, medicine and food have all grown scarce in Lebanon as political parties bicker over the makeup of a new government, holding up a much-needed international bailout.

Macron kicked off donor pledges with a promise of close to 100 million euros (US$118 million) in French aid and a donation of 500,000 Covid-19 vaccine shots.