- UK package of £20 million will help provide food for the most vulnerable in Lebanon, including those affected by the Beirut explosion and its aftermath
- As one of the biggest donors to crisis so far, UK commits to “stand by the Lebanese people”
- This is on top of £5 million already made available to the response by the UK, including support for the British Red Cross for the emergency relief effort
The UK will step up its commitment to helping Lebanon’s most vulnerable today, by pledging a further package of £20m in urgent humanitarian support at a virtual summit of world leaders (Sunday, 9 August).
The UK is one of the biggest donors to the crisis, and at the ‘International conference on assistance and support to Beirut and the Lebanese people’, convened by French President Emmanuel Macron and UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, International Development Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan will pledge £20 million on behalf of the UK to the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP).
This support will help the country’s most vulnerable through the existing economic uncertainty and additional suffering caused by the explosion by going directly to those families most at risk to cover essential survival needs, including access to food and medicine.
At today’s conference, world leaders will gather virtually to support Lebanon after the explosion put the country’s already-strained economy and food security under extra pressure.
Speaking ahead of the global conference International Development Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said:
The devastation we have seen in Lebanon this week has left people without homes, medical care and wondering how long it will be until the country’s food supplies run out.
Today the world is coming together to stand by the Lebanese people, and as one of the biggest donors to this crisis so far, the UK is pledging more urgent support to help all those affected by this terrible disaster.
The UK has already made £5 million available to the response, £3 million of which will go to the British Red Cross for the emergency relief effort following Tuesday’s devastating explosion, which has left over 250,000 people homeless.
A British team of specialist medics funded by UK aid flew to Lebanon on Friday to assess health needs on the ground and identify what more the UK can do to help following the devastating explosion. Humanitarian experts from the UK are also on the ground and the Royal Navy survey ship HMS Enterprise will deploy to Beirut.
Since the start of the Syria Crisis, the UK has provided over £740 million to help promote stability and support for refugees and vulnerable people in Lebanon. Since 2011, DFID has supported sustainable water and sanitation facilities to over 1.1 million refugees, provided education to 300,000 children, helped create 1,400 new jobs for both Lebanese and Syrian communities, and improved infrastructure and services in over 200 municipalities.
Notes to editors
- The UK has provided £743m in support to the country since the 2011 outbreak of the Syria crisis, supporting some of the most vulnerable people.
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