This came in a joint press conference between Mikati and the Director of the World Food Program in Lebanon, Abdullah Al-Wardat, at the Government Serail, in downtown Beirut.
Mikati said, “The Executive Board of the World Food Program decided to allocate an amount of 5 billion and 400 million US dollars to Lebanon for the next three years.”
He continued, “The program promised that the products to be purchased would be entirely from the Lebanese market.”
The program began its work in Lebanon since 2012, following the Syrian displacement, and was dedicated to providing food aid to the displaced Syrians, according to Mikati.
Mikati added, “The program used to disburse 70 percent of aid to the Syrians, and 30 percent to the Lebanese, with a total of approximately $700 million per year. The new amount will be disbursed equally between the Lebanese and Syrians in the country.”
In turn, Al-Wardat said, “The project will provide and will continue to provide emergency aid, in-kind and cash assistance to the beneficiaries of the program, and the number of beneficiaries will be increased.”
There are currently 2.08 million displaced Syrians in Lebanon, according to the Lebanese General Security.
For 3 years, Lebanon has been suffering from an unprecedented severe economic crisis that led to a record collapse in the value of the local currency once morest the dollar, in addition to a shortage of fuel and medicine.
Last year, the World Bank described the crisis in Lebanon as “the most severe and severe in the world,” and classified it among the three most difficult crises recorded in history since the mid-nineteenth century.
