Donors pledge aid for Lebanon during virtual conference

10 August 2020
World leaders have said further financial assistance will be made available if Beirut commits to reforms

World leaders pledged about $300m of emergency aid for Lebanon during a virtual donor’s conference led by French President Emmanuel Macron on 9 August.

The aid will be distributed directly to the Lebanese people, a move that reflects concerns about corruption and mismanagement within the country.

“The participants agreed that their assistance should be timely, sufficient and consistent with the needs of the Lebanese people, well-coordinated under the leadership of the United Nations, and directly delivered to the Lebanese population, with utmost efficiency and transparency,” said a statement issued by the French president’s office after the conference.

READ MORE: Demonstrators storm the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building

The participants in the conference also agreed that further financial assistance will be made available if Lebanon commits to reforms.

“Further to emergency assistance, partners stand ready to support the economic and financial recovery of Lebanon, which requires, as part of a stabilisation strategy, that Lebanese authorities fully commit themselves to timely measures and reforms expected by the Lebanese people,” the statement added.

The participants in the conference also said that assistance will be made available for an independent inquiry on the explosion should Lebanon request it.

Lebanon has said it will conduct its own investigation, with President Michel Aoun rejecting calls for an international inquiry.

The event was attended by leaders from Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, the European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, the Netherlands, Norway, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UAE, the UK and the US.

The attendees also included officials from the League of Arab States, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the IMF, the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development and the World Bank.

The event was organised following the 4 August explosion at Beirut Port that has killed more than 158 people and left 300,000 people without shelter. There have been large-scale protests over corruption in the country following the blast. 


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In an address on 8 August, Lebanon's Prime Minister Hassan Diab committed to an investigation into the blast


Security forces used tear gas to hold back protesters on 8 August


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