UK Minister Announces £60M to Reach All Children in Lebanon with Education
The UK will continue to support Lebanon’s “stability and economic security while being at the forefront of managing the repercussions of the Syria crisis,” British Secretary of State for International Development Priti Patel said Wednesday at the end of a two-day visit to the country.
As part of a wider visit to the region, her first overseas visit since taking office, Patel met with Lebanese ministerial counterparts to discuss the provision of UK aid and the relations between Britain and Lebanon.
She also thanked the Lebanese government and people for their “continued generosity and support in hosting over 1.5 million Syrian refugees,” a British embassy statement said.
During her visit, Patel announced a new £60 million program over four years to support the implementation of RACE2 (the Lebanese government’s Reaching All Children with Education II plan) with a focus on reaching the most vulnerable children with non-formal education, as a pathway into a formal school, and child protection.
Under the RACE2 program, the UK is supporting the Ministry of Education and Higher Education via a World Bank managed education program to scale up access to quality formal education for refugees and vulnerable Lebanese. The UK is also supporting RACE II through government-endorsed “quality non-formal education” via UNICEF.
Following her field visit, Patel said: "It was important to me to come to Lebanon on my first overseas visit as the UK's International Development Secretary -- to demonstrate the UK's commitment to our strong partnership with Lebanon.”
“The UK stands shoulder to shoulder with the Lebanese people in dealing with the impacts of the Syria Crisis, including our vital partnership to reach all children with education,” she added.
“Long-term stability and prosperity for Lebanon is in both the UK and the Lebanese national interest. We are working together to ensure the international community as a whole meets the commitments made at the London Conference," the minister went on to say.
Patel had visited an Informal Tented Settlement and a school in the Bekaa to see how the UK is supporting Lebanon with its local and international partners. She was accompanied by Education Minister Elias Bou Saab, UNHCR Country Director Mireille Girard, UNICEF Country Director Tanya Chapuisat and British Ambassador to Lebanon Hugo Shorter.
During the field visit, she met Syrian refugee students in a “catch-up program” to recover years of lost learning and prepare them to enter formal schools at the right learning levels. She also met with Syrian youths who shared their experiences of conflict and displacement, and their hopes to build a better future by enhancing their education and skills.
During the two-day visit, Patel also met with Prime Minister Tammam Salam and Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil, and held a joint press conference with Minister Bou Saab. She also visited the UK Lebanon Tech Hub, an international initiative supported by the British Government aimed at supporting Lebanon’s knowledge economy.
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