Canada contributes $25.9 million in cash assistance for vulnerable Lebanese

Lebanon's Ministry of Social Affairs welcomed the contribution made by the Canadian Government amounting to 35 million Canadian dollars (25.9 million US dollars) to provide cash assistance to the most vulnerable Lebanese and technical assistance to the Ministry. 

This contribution comes within the framework of the National Poverty Targeting Program (NPTP), which the Ministry of Social Affairs has been implementing for 12 years, with technical support from the World Food Program (WFP) and funded through grants from donor countries. 

In a statement, the Ministry said that Canada's contribution would be dedicated to supporting the neediest families in Lebanon going through daily struggles amid one of the worst financial crises in the world.  

This contribution will also allow the World Food Program to provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Social Affairs to strengthen social safety nets that have become critical to many segments of the society and will continue to enable WFP to provide technical training for the Ministry's social workers. 

Caretaker Minister of Social Affairs, Hector Hajjar, thanked the donor countries for supporting social security programs in Lebanon, especially the National Poverty Targeting Program (NPTP), which currently benefits about 75,000 people. 

He expressed that the goal is to lay the foundations for a national strategy for social protection with a mechanized and interdependent executive arm that extends to all the most vulnerable segments of society and to work transparently with local and international partners to achieve this goal.  

He also urged the "League of Arab States and foreign countries to stand by us in this ordeal," adding that "in a related aspect, we are currently looking for local funding sources for the program, and we will soon visit Egypt and Jordan to benefit from their expertise in this field." 

He also promised the Lebanese to complete the national strategy for social protection before June 15 and refer it to the Parliament.