Salam vows to intensify coordination for aid to the displaced

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Sunday called on relevant ministers to coordinate and facilitate the delivery of recently received humanitarian aid for displaced persons, the state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported.

Following a meeting at the Grand Serail, Information Minister Paul Morcos said the President had asked to speed up the distribution of food and medicine arriving in Lebanon for the more than 800,000 officially registered displaced people.

In the interest of transparency, President Joseph Aoun also tasked the Information Minister with disseminating in the media the necessary figures and information to facilitate displaced persons' access to information and available services.

Salam also called for intensified communication with Lebanese diplomatic missions to mobilize more aid from abroad and organize its delivery, as the first 60 tons of aid arrived from France on Thursday. Additional humanitarian shipments from European countries are expected to be delivered to Lebanon in the coming weeks, though no specific dates have yet been set.

The German Embassy in Beirut announced in a statement that the federal government has approved an increase of more than 49 million euros in its humanitarian aid for Lebanon "in order to respond to rising needs and the massive displacement of the population." German Ambassador Kurt Georg Stockl-Stillfried said these funds are part of two European aid packages totaling nearly 200 million euros.

Aoun also reviewed preparations for reception centers for the displaced with ministers, according to Morcos. He was also briefed on details of the visit by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to the Dikwaneh center, where he observed the conditions for displaced persons and the efforts to provide food, healthcare, and housing assistance.

Salam veut intensifier la coordination pour l’aide aux déplacés