France convenes a conference on aid to Lebanon on 2 December

Sources from the French Presidency confirmed yesterday that the second international conference in support of Lebanon will be held on 2 December next.

The meeting will be telematic due to the restrictions in place because of the coronavirus pandemic and the same participants were invited to the first meeting, which took place on 9 August last, convened by France and the United Nations.

The summer conference pledged to mobilise EUR 252.7 million in emergency aid and brought together some thirty leaders and senior officials from all over the world and institutions such as the European Union (EU) and the World Bank to coordinate support.

Like that first meeting, this second one aims to support the Lebanese population following the explosion on 4 August in the port of Beirut, which left over 200 dead, 6,000 injured and over 300,000 homeless.
 

Next week's conference will include new Lebanese institutions and NGOs, sources at the Elysée advanced, without specifying the list of participants.

Lebanon is going through one of the worst economic crises in its hundred years of history and, although a month has passed since Saad Hariri was appointed prime minister, the government has not yet been formed.

Precisely, the fact that Lebanon has a cabinet is the main demand of the French president, Emmanuel Macron, who in August made the sending of financial aid conditional upon the completion of a series of reforms to get the nation out of the bad situation it is in, as other players in the international community did.