The EU pays tribute to the outstanding efforts the country is making since the outset of the Syrian refugee crisis.
The EU remains deeply committed to assisting Lebanon in dealing with the crisis. Overall, the EU is the leading donor in the international response to the Syrian crisis, with over €6.6 billion from the EU and Member States collectively mobilized in humanitarian and development assistance. This support goes both to Syrians in their country, and to refugees and their host communities in neighbouring Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey and Egypt.
At the London conference on “Supporting Syria and the region” at the beginning of February 2016, the EU pledged €1 billion for Lebanon and Jordan for the years 2016 and 2017. Lebanon is expected to receive significant additional support in tackling the refugee crisis.
Lebanon hosts more than one million Syrian refugees, which represents 25% of the country’s population, which is the highest per-capita concentration of refugees worldwide.
Overall, the European Commission has allocated close to €800 million in assistance to refugees and vulnerable communities in Lebanon since the beginning of the crisis. This includes:
• €356.1 million from the humanitarian budget, including €87 million for 2016
• more than €250 million from the European Neighbourhood Instrument mainly to support Lebanese institutions to provide Lebanese vulnerable communities and Syrian refugees with access to basic services
• more than €42 million from the Instrument contributing to Peace and Stability to address longer term resilience needs of affected civilians, both refugees and Lebanese host communities
• €1.2 million from the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights
• close to €142 million through the EU Regional Trust Fund in response to the Syrian crisis, the ‘Madad Fund’, to address longer-term resilience needs of Syrian refugees and support Lebanese host communities and the national administration with a focus on increasing access for refugees to education and training, as well as livelihoods and health.
This support comes on top of the over €219 million in regular programmed bilateral cooperation for Lebanon under the European Neighbourhood Policy, which brings overall support to more than €1 billion.
The main part of non-humanitarian funding is allocated to the education sector, but also towards health, livelihoods and local infrastructures