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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
LEBANON: Arab nations more generous than Western counterparts
DUBAI, 29 Jul 2006 (IRIN) - Arab nations are donating huge amounts of funds to Lebanon, following the destruction of the country’s infrastructure and massive loss of lives as a result Israel’s aerial bombardment on Lebanese territory which began on 12 July.
“This is another confirmation that the Arab states are not new donors as some people call them but that they are key donors,” said Ivo Freijsen, head of the Dubai office of the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance, who is at present in Damascus, Syria, supervising UN relief efforts for Lebanon.
“Of course, it is not a surprise that they [the Arab states] have come out so strongly in supporting another Arab nation as we have seen before their generous support during the Tsunami disaster and the Pakistani earthquake of October last year,” he said.
Freijsen added that he hoped the Arab nations’ donations to Lebanon “will be for the short-, mid- and long-term because during all these phases large sums of money will be required [for Lebanon’s reconstruction].”
The Arabs show of solidarity with Lebanon contrasts sharply with assistance so far provided to Lebanon by the world’s major and traditional donors. Known pledges to date from Western nations to Lebanon total US $65.5 million, less than half the known Arab total of US $140.5 million.
So far the European Union (EU) has given Lebanon US $12.6 million, Spain has pledged US $1.3 million, Finland US $1.9 million, Sweden US $5.5 million, Denmark US $4.2 million, Ireland US $700,000, Hungary US $27,000 and France and Greece have pledged undisclosed quantities of relief supplies.
A good pointer is the contrast between Iraq’s donation of US $35 million and the combined donation of its main occupiers – the US’s (US $30 million) and Britain’s (US $9.3 million).
So far Saudi Arabia is the Arab world’s major donor to Lebanon. On Wednesday, Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah ordered the transfer of US $1 billion to Lebanon’s central bank, in an effort to consolidate the stability of the Lebanese pound. Although the Lebanese central bank had some US $14 billion of foreign reserves, pressure was mounting on the pound and there was increased demand for the US dollar.
According to economists, the Saudis have been supporting the Lebanese currency since 1990. Billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, whose mother is Lebanese, is also one Lebanon’s major foreign investors. The country depends heavily on foreign direct investment, which amounted to about 10% of gross domestic product (gdp) in 2005, to finance a current account deficit of nearly 13% of gdp last year.
An additional US $500 million have been provided by the Saudis to Lebanon. On Wednesday, Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora described the funds as a “grant… [which would be] a nucleus for an Arab fund to reconstruct Lebanon.” It is estimated that damage caused by Israel bombardment to Lebanon’s infrastructure is worth more than US $2 billion.
According to Siniora, the Saudis have also given Lebanon US $50 million in emergency humanitarian aid for victims of Israeli attacks and the displaced people, estimated to number some 800,000 by the UN in Lebanon.
A further donation of US $32 million was raised through a Saudi television appeal on Thursday. A similar telethon conducted on Friday in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) raised Dh49 million (US $13.5 million). The telethon was organised by Dubai Media Incorporated, the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Humanitarian and Charitable Foundation and the UAE Red Crescent Authority.
UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan has ordered a US $20 million donation to provide medical and other aid supplies to the Lebanese people. A similar sum – US $20 million – has been promised by Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Sabah al Ahmed al Sabah to help secure the transportation of emergency aid to the Lebanese. Kuwait was among the first countries to help Lebanon since its current crisis with Israel started.
In addition to official donations by Arab governments and NGOs, individuals throughout the Arab world have been contributing generously to assist the Lebanese people, according to local media reports. The Qatari authorities, for example, have collected about US $ 3.9 million in donations towards that goal. Some US $250,000 have been wired to the Lebanese Red Cross by the Kuwait Red Crescent Society from private donations, according to its head, Berjas al-Berjas.
Al-Berjas said a Kuwait plane carrying tonnes of first aid medicine will arrive in Damascus on Sunday, en route to Beirut and that 290 electric power generators were sent to Lebanon from Kuwait on Wednesday. On the same day, a Jordanian military plane arrived in Beirut carrying humanitarian relief aid supplies, including tonnes of food and medical supplies.
The figure of total donations by individuals in the Arab world is higher probably than that officially released as Muslims are discouraged to publicise acts of goodwill, including charitable donations.
“It is important to note that the figure that we see coming out of the Arab states may not necessarily reflect the totality of assistance since there is also a lot of discreet assistance which is provided by individuals or groups of individuals who are not concerned to have their generosity advertised as per the principle of giving in Islam,” said Freijsen.
AR+ED/AG
[ENDS]
This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2006
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