Unicef gets $10 mn donation for Syrian refugees

The US announced late Friday it has donated $10 mn to support the education project of the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) for Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

The US Ambassador to Lebanon David Hale announced in a joint press conference with Lebanon's minister of education Elias Bou Saab that the donation aims to support the ministry's plan in offering education for Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

"The donation is a US contribution to the education fund affiliated to Unicef in Lebanon to register children in schools," Hale said, Xinhua news agency reported.

"This donation falls in the framework of UN programs to guarantee long term educational opportunities," he said, pointing out that this project "would be executed all over the country, and secures education to children from nursery to brevet certificate".

For his part, Bou Saab expressed thanks to the US for the donation and their continuous support, emphasizing the importance "to give refugees hope in a time when the country was facing a serious crisis due to the influx of more than 1.2 million refugees, including 450,000 children".

According to the United Nations Higher Commission for Refugees, Lebanon hosts more than 1.2 million refugees who fled their home country since Syria collapsed into civil war in 2011.