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French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said on Thursday that Paris will host a conference via video technology with international partners on December 2 to discuss the delivery of humanitarian aid to Lebanon, which is suffering a financial crisis.
Earlier Thursday, Macron said that Paris “is working in cooperation with the United Nations and other partners to hold an international conference in support of Beirut.”
This came in a congratulatory message sent by Macron to his Lebanese counterpart Michel Aoun on the occasion of the 77th anniversary of Lebanon’s independence from French colonialism on November 22, 1943.
The conference, held in cooperation with the United Nations, aims to attract the widest possible representation with the aim of encouraging aid delivery to the debt-ridden Lebanese economy.
Three sources familiar with the matter said that due to the deteriorating economic situation and in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, France decided to continue holding the aid conference.
A source familiar with the conference arrangements said: “There is no great desire on the part of the international community to help Lebanon, but humanitarian aid must go directly to the people.”
Details of the conference will be finalized early next week, but its aim is to attract as many senior government officials as possible.
French initiative
Macron had pledged to press ahead with his efforts to prevent Lebanon’s collapse after a massive explosion in the Beirut port last August, devastating large areas of the city and further complicating the financial and political crisis in the country.
However, the French initiative aimed at stabilizing Lebanon and providing an opportunity to launch billions of dollars in international aid to reform the economy has yet to be successful.
Last August, the French president launched an initiative in a threatening tone and giving instructions, but some forces in Lebanon considered it an interference in the affairs of their country.
Lebanon has been suffering for months the worst economic crisis since the end of the civil war (1975-1990), and a strong political polarization, in a scenario in which the interests of regional and western countries, including France, collide.
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