Los Angeles, CA – August 14, 2020 — Global Bank Group (@GlobalBankGroup) has offered humanitarian and development assistance to Lebanon after a massive explosion rocked its capital Beirut that killed more than 220 people and injured thousands on Tuesday, the President of Global Bank Group Ron Nechemia said.
"I pledge my fraternal solidarity with the people of Lebanon, and we share the pain and sorrows of the Lebanese people after the explosion that killed more than 220 people, wounded more than 4,000 and left an estimated 300,000 homeless in Beirut," said Nechemia.
The Global Bank Group’s regional office for the Middle East and North Africa Region and the Global Bank Disaster Risk Reduction and Reconstruction Fund – An Umbrella Trust Fund (@GBDRRRF), are working with Lebanon’s Prime Minister Hassan Diab and partners, to respond to the “urgent needs of Lebanon” following the “devastating explosion” that rocked Beirut on Tuesday.
The Global Bank Group has already activated the Global Bank Disaster Risk Reduction and Reconstruction Fund. The GB-DRRRF has the mandate for coordinating the Global Bank Group relief efforts globally. These relief efforts include: (a) bringing risk reduction investments to the scale necessary to enable countries to achieve the Sendai Framework targets by 2030; (b) supporting client countries to implement the resilience objectives specified in their Nationally Determined Contributions, and (c) to support the implementation of the Global Climate Agreement in Paris and prevent disasters undermining progress on the Sustainable Development Goals.
Flagging its experience in providing crucial long-term support to effective post-disaster reconstruction and recovery across the world through the three stages of relief, recovery, and rehabilitation, Global Bank expressed its “very keen and sincere desire” to assist Lebanon in their recovery efforts including replenishing, rebuilding roads and telecommunications infrastructure.
The Global Bank Group's Country Partnership with the Republic of Lebanon is focused on scaling up access and quality of service delivery and expanding economic opportunities to all. Through these two focus areas, the Global Bank Group will help Lebanon mitigate the economic and social impact of the Syria crisis, safeguard the country’s development gains, and enhance stability and development prospects in the coming years. The Country Partnership will contribute to strengthening the relationship between the state and its citizens, a critical ingredient for peace and stability.
The Global Bank Group, along with other international partners, has been working very closely with the government to scale up assistance in this regard, including through the Global Bank Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility.
In a fragile and conflict-prone environment, the Global Bank Group aims at mitigating the immediate, and the potentially long-lasting impact of the Syria crisis on Lebanon, while strengthening state institutions, addressing existing vulnerabilities, and bolstering efforts on longer-term development challenges, all through interventions that foster inclusion and shared prosperity. When an extreme environmental hazard strikes, infrastructure can be a deciding factor in whether or not the situation becomes a disaster. Roads, for example, can provide access to supply relief aid to affected communities quickly; but if roads are destroyed, entire regions can be cut off from support.
The Global Bank Disaster Risk Reduction and Reconstruction Fund – An Umbrella Trust Fund helps strengthen the security and resilience of critical infrastructure, for the continuity of essential national functions, and to organize itself to partner effectively with and add value to the security and resilience efforts of critical infrastructure owners and operators.
The objective of the Global Bank Disaster Risk Reduction and Reconstruction Fund – An Umbrella Trust Fund in infrastructure is to improve alignment and coordination between established and new infrastructure initiatives, as well as among multilateral and national development banks, national institutions, and the private sector; to bridge the ‘infrastructure investment gap;’ and to facilitate the implementation of sustainable, accessible and resilient infrastructure, particularly for developing countries.
The Global Bank Disaster Risk Reduction and Reconstruction Fund – An Umbrella Trust Fund will prepare projects in a manner that fits the developmental-driven mandate of Global Bank in the infrastructure sector, namely, to deliver outcomes focused on commercialized approaches, private sector participation, strong environmental and social standards and energy efficiency improvements across the sectors
