Caretaker PM Mikati heads to Kuwait to partake in aid donor conference for Syria

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati headed on Tuesday to Kuwait to represent Lebanon in a second humanitarian aid donor conference for Syria.

The International Donor conference for Syria is scheduled to take place on Wednesday in Kuwait, under the chairmanship of United Nations Chief Ban Ki-moon.

The conference aims at helping the United Nations raise $6.5 billion for Syria and neighboring countries in 2014.

The UN Higher Council for Refugees (UNHCR) said in August that the number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon receiving aid from the government, the UN and its NGO partners has reached the threshold of 703,000.

The number of registered refugees is more than 592,000, while more than 110,000 are still waiting for their registration process to be completed, it said.

It added that 198,000 Syrian refugees were registered in northern Lebanon, representing 33 percent of the total number of refugees; 201,000 in the eastern Bekaa region, representing 34 percent; 115,000 in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, representing 18 percent; and 77,000 in southern Lebanon, representing 13 percent.