Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support the Government is offering to the government of Lebanon on the distribution of central resources to municipalities to enable host communities to assist refugees; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The UK is providing £9 million this year to support the Lebanese Host Community Support Programme. This programme is aimed at providing basic services to 49 of Lebanon’s most vulnerable municipalities (those most affected by the pressures of hosting large refugee communities). It is jointly run by the Lebanese Ministry of Social Affairs and the UN Development Programme (UNDP). The programme does not use central government resources, but the Government of Lebanon does provide strategic direction through consultations with UNDP. We hope that their involvement will help to strengthen their capacity to respond to the Syria crisis.

Since the start of the Syria crisis the UK has contributed over £330 million to help maintain Lebanese stability.