Municipalities get $20 million from World Bank

The World Bank will dedicate $20 million for municipalities, in order to cope with the massive flow of Syrian refugees.

“The World Bank has pledged to provide this amount within one month,” said Ibrahim Kanaan, Member of Parliament and Chair of Finance and Budget Parliamentary Commission, after the conclusion of a workshop between a number of MPs and World Bank officials about the impact of the Syrian Crisis on Lebanon.

Kanaan said that 55 percent of residents are either Syrian or Palestinian refugees. “Support should be provided to municipalities all over the country to reduce the negative impact of the crisis,” he said. Kanaan urged the need for an international cooperation to “bring back refugees to their country or at least to secured territories.”

“The World Bank has pledged earlier that it will increase the ceiling of funds and assistance for municipalities. We currently have this project, which will hopefully expand to cover the greatest number of municipalities,” said Ferid Belhaj, World Bank Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

Official figures show that the number of Lebanese residents does not exceed four million, while the number of officially registered Syrian refugees reaches 1,250,000, in addition to 500,000 not officially registered Syrian refugees and workers. The number of Palestinian refugees exceeds 400,000.