BEIRUT — The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development said on Monday that during a visit to Lebanon, Germany's Development Minister Svenja Schulze committed to an additional 60 million euros to provide basic services for hundreds of thousands of people who have been displaced within the country by the fighting or have fled to neighboring Syria.
"In Beirut, I bore first-hand witness to the impressive willingness of the Lebanese people to support refugees and internally displaced persons. But Lebanon cannot deal with this humanitarian crisis on its own", she said after visiting a community kitchen that provides meals for refugees and an emergency shelter for internally displaced persons.
The ministry said that the community kitchen Schulze visited, which is run by non-governmental organization Souk al-Tayeb with the support of GIZ — a German development agency — is a "reflection of the huge commitment shown by civil society in Lebanon."
"On behalf of the ministry, GIZ contributes to providing 3,600 meals a day for internally displaced persons nationwide," the ministry said.
Meanwhile, the shelter visited by the minister was a school that is used both for teaching, which started again on Nov. 4, and as an emergency shelter for internally displaced persons from the south of the country.
"Funded by the German Federal Government, volunteers from the Order of Malta Lebanon are providing people at the shelter with food and healthcare," the ministry said.
The ministry added that it will scale up "ongoing projects in Lebanon and Syria with recently approved additional funding of 60 million euros, which will finance measures including learning centers for internally displaced children and psychosocial support for traumatized children."
It is also funding "short-term jobs for internally displaced persons and people from host regions, for instance in areas such as equipping and operating emergency shelters and sanitation facilities, waste disposal and cleaning services, and the production of sleeping bags, blankets and clothing for internally displaced persons."
"In total, the ministry is providing 148.31 million euros to support the people of Lebanon this year," the ministry finally said. During her visit to Lebanon where she met with Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Schulze said that Germany and international partners are "working to provide health, education, food, water and a roof over the heads of people who have had to leave their homes. "
"At the same time, the Federal Government is strongly committed to promoting a ceasefire," Schulze added.
Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in a conflict since last October, in which more than 2,986 people in Lebanon have been killed and more than 1.4 million residents have been displaced.
