Bou Saab Reveals $100 Million World Bank Assistance for Education Sector

Education Minister Elias Bou Saab said Thursday that the World Bank has decided to give around $100 million of assistance for Lebanon's education sector.

Bou Saab told al-Liwaa daily that the World Bank will decide in the next stage on which projects to spend the assistance.

“This is the first tangible decision, which comes as a result of the London conference” that was held in February to help conflict-hit Syrians, he said.

At the conference, world leaders pledged a total of $10 billion to help millions of victims of Syria’s civil war, including the refugees who have escaped to nearby countries.

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, who accompanied U.N. chief Bank Ki-moon in his two-day visit to Beirut on Thursday, had delivered a powerful statement in London in support for Syria.

He vowed to triple the Bank's support to the region to $20 billion for the next five years.

Kim's talks with Lebanese officials on Thursday are expected to focus on the projects that the World Bank is planning to implement in Lebanon to help it confront the refugee crisis.

About 1.2 million Syrian refugees have been registered in Lebanon but their numbers reach around 1.5 million.

G.K.

D.A.