BEIRUT: The international community is keen to bolster Lebanon’s stability at this precarious moment, U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson said.
As the effects of the Syrian civil war continue to reverberate across the region, international actors are “doing everything [they] can to help Lebanon stay out of this crisis,” Eliasson said on the final evening of a four-day trip to Lebanon.
“Lebanon is now an area where these tensions from Syria are most critically seen.”
As part of the new strategic plan for Lebanon announced earlier this week, the government and the U.N. announced they are seeking $2.1 billion for 2015.
Recognizing Lebanon’s “tremendous sacrifice” in hosting more than 1.1 million Syrian refugees, Eliasson said the funds would be used for humanitarian aid and development projects in underserved Lebanese municipalities.
He admitted, however, that donor countries were struggling to fund concurrent humanitarian crises around the world.
There are “enormous needs in humanitarian areas and crises that erupt almost every week,” he said.
While much of the word is sympathetic to the suffering of Syrian refugees and Lebanese host communities, “budgetary realities” have prevented a further outpouring of financial support.
While the call for 2015 stands at $2.1 billion, Eliasson said that such projects typically receive “between 40 and 60” of the solicited sum.
Last year, the U.N. appealed for $1.8 billion to care for Syrian refugees in Lebanon, but as of mid-December has received less than half that amount.
He sighed when asked what became of funding from the much-trumpeted International Support Group for Lebanon, which he himself helped to create.
He speculated that “limited funds” were a contributing factor to the International Support Group’s disappointingly low pledges.
Eliasson stressed the need for all Lebanese parties to abide by the Baabda declaration, which enshrines Lebanon’s official policy of disassociation from the Syrian conflict.
“There should be no interference,” he said, adding, that it “goes for all groups.”
“One of the most futile attempts of this period, this horror, of the past three-and-a-half years is the belief that there can be a military victory,” he said.
Lebanon’s security is at least in part contingent upon a political solution to the Syrian crisis, Eliasson added.
But while he said that it was necessary for international mediators to cooperate with the Assad government to reach a political solution, he did not have an opinion on whether or not Lebanon should engage with the Syrian regime.
“I don’t need to advise this government on their diplomatic contacts,” he said. “It’s up to them as a sovereign nation.”
During his trip, Eliasson met with Lebanese politicians and figureheads including Prime Minister Tammam Salam, Speaker Nabih Berri, MP Walid Jumblatt and Maronite patriarch Beshara Rai to discuss national and regional crises.
He visited Tuesday a public school in Burj Hammoud that is accommodating Syrian refugees in addition to Lebanese students to better understand the “deep strain” that host communities throughout the country are experiencing.
Echoing calls made recently by other foreign dignitaries, Eliasson also appealed for Lebanon to elect a president.
Filling the presidential void is both necessary for the functioning of the state and the country’s standing, he said.
In a country beleaguered by security and political crises, Eliasson noted that the “situation for UNIFIL was good news.”
“Of course the situation can change very quickly, but compared to the situation on the border with Syria, [the Lebanon-Israel border] is relatively calm.”
Despite thin resources, Eliasson said that the U.N. was “impressed” by the Lebanese Armed Forces.
He also lauded the forthcoming dialogue between Hezbollah and the Future Movement, saying that the dialogue would be “a very constructive step.”
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