International donors pledge nearly $300mn for Lebanon

International donors yesterday pledged $298mn in aid for Lebanon following last week's explosion that wiped out Beirut port and much of the surrounding areas and left around 300,000 people homeless.

Latest government estimates put the cost of the damage at $10bn-15bn, up from an estimate of $3bn-5bn made in the immediate aftermath of the blast.

The pledges were made at a virtual donor conference co-organized by France and the UN that brought together representatives from more than two dozen countries, and several international financial organizations including the World Bank, the IMF and the European Investment Bank (EIB).

"The objective… is to pool our resources to respond very concretely in the coming days and weeks to the needs of the people in Beirut," French President Emmanuel Macron said. "What we need to provide is this help with very close monitoring by the UN… with the support of the World Bank." Macron stressed the importance of the role that the international community has in supporting Lebanon, warning that "peace and stability" of the whole region is at stake.

Some of the biggest pledges came from Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) states Kuwait and Qatar, which committed $40mn and $50mn respectively, and from the EU, which promised an extra €30mn ($35.3mn) on top of around €33mn in humanitarian aid that it has already sent.

Alongside the pledges, many of the donor countries urged Lebanon to begin taking the steps to bring about serious political reforms to tackle the deep-rooted corruption and mismanagement that had pushed the country to the brink of economic collapse even before the explosion. Over the past year a complete breakdown of Lebanon's banking system, coupled with a significant worsening unemployment and skyrocketing inflation that has seen the Lebanese pound lose more than 60pc of its value, have prompted mass demonstrations against the government.

The explosion, which Lebanon's prime minister has blamed the explosion on 2,750t of ammonium nitrate that had been stored in a warehouse at Beirut's port since 2014, has unleashed a new wave of protests. The health ministry said at least 158 people died as a result of the blast, and upwards of 6,000 were injured.

In Beirut last week Macron promised that all the aid from the conference would go directly to the people through non-governmental organisations and relief groups, like the International Red Cross, and not through "corrupt hands." He reiterated this yesterday, stressing that the aid would go "as quickly as possible to public and private actors, to non-governmental actors and civil society, taking into account its needs."

A domestic investigation continues into why such a large amount of ammonium nitrate had been stored at the port for more than six years. Macron yesterday renewed his offer of support for "an impartial, credible independent investigation". But Lebanon's President Michel Aoun has already ruled this out as a "waste of time."

By Nader Itayim