Diab chairs meetings for launching of Donor Coordination Platform

Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab chaired two consecutive meetings for the launching of the Donor Coordination Platform for countries and bodies contributing to help Lebanon overcome the port disaster, in the presence of Ministers Zeina Akar and Charbel Wehbe.

Ambassadors of Denmark, China, Finland, Germany, Italy, Qatar, Spain, Turkey, the United States of America, The European Union, Armenia, Iran, South Korea, Greece, Hungary, India, Bangladesh, Romania, Slovakia, Algeria, Poland, and Sri Lanka, as well as representatives of the ambassadors of Canada, Egypt, France, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Morocco, Tunisia, Kazakhstan, Belgium, Cyprus, Australia, Austria, Tunisia, Czechia, Brazil, and the United Nations Special Coordinator in Lebanon, Deputy Special Coordinator for the United Nations in Lebanon and Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs, World Bank representative in Lebanon, a delegation from the Army Command, which included Colonel Elias Ziadeh, Colonel Elias Aad, Major Amin El Tannouri, and Secretary General of the Red Cross, George Kettaneh also attended.

Prime Minister Diab delivered the following statement:

Thank you for joining us and for continuously supporting our country and our people, particularly at the wake of the Beirut Port Disaster.

The Lebanese people's scars are uncountable. Over the years, they have lived through wars, attacks, bombs, political vacuums, financial instability, and economic difficulties.

And on that devastating Tuesday afternoon, disaster struck again, stabbing us straight in our heart, Beirut. As the heavy smoke began to dissipate, the shocking reality began to unravel.

So far, the blast has claimed more than 170 martyrs, over 6,000 injured, and many remain missing. Furthermore, around 40,000 buildings have been damaged, with over 70,000 workers who have lost their jobs and 300,000 persons displaced.

We had no time to lose, no effort to spare.

The government, together with the Lebanese Army leadership launched the Forward Emergency Room (FER) to initiate the disaster response.

The FER is now acting as the central disaster relief coordinator across all key activities for immediate support, such as food, medical care, renovation works, shelter, cleaning-up, and rebuilding.

Moreover, the Delivery Unit and Disaster Risk Management Unit are managing the response.

Today, we officially launch the Donor Coordination Platform, the first of its kind at the governmental level, to optimize the synchronization among donors, improve responsiveness, and ensure transparency.

From the moment Lebanon started receiving aid and support, I was clear on the need for transparency to declare everything that is received, and how it is distributed.

This platform, which is being continuously updated, will be key to success for both humanitarian and recovery components of the response.

Unfortunately, the disaster comes at a time when Lebanon is suffering from a severe economic crisis, and still dealing with an increasingly worrying COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, humanitarian and development support are critically needed.

All recovery activities have commenced, for the people to be able to return safely to their homes and try to get their lives back on track before wintertime.

If there is one thing that defines the Lebanese, it would be the peculiar contradiction they have managed to forge throughout the years and all the tragedies:

Scattered, yet united;

Broken, yet resilient;

Scared, yet determined.

But the Lebanese were never alone.

After every tragedy, we found compassion;

After every disaster, we received comfort;

After every catastrophe we discovered we were surrounded by friends who would never let go of Lebanon, friends who also felt stabbed in their hearts seeing the shadows of what Beirut used to be.

From the bottom of our Beirut, we thank you.

We shall rise again.

 

Afterwards, Minister Akar delivered the following statement:

Honorable ambassadors and representatives of International Organizations

You are witnesses of our wound, and I know that you were hurting just like us. You lost loved ones, friends, and staff, just like us.

On August 4, we felt as if the port of Beirut… as if the capital of Lebanon, Beirut, have translated and summarized the tragedies of this planet in a flash.

That day, August 4, 2020, will live on in our collective memory and we will never forget it. On that date, Lebanon's breath gave out for a few seconds, and the Lebanese felt it, and they will forever feel it.

I feared for this city as I feared for my daughter.

Just as the people of Lebanon feared for their loved ones.

None of us, in this room and beyond, will be able to feel the same as the families of hundreds of martyrs and missing persons, and as thousands of those who were injured, who lost their houses and memories of their childhood.

Humanity as a whole manifested itself in a moment of vision, shunning wars and politics.

When this disaster struck, and when we saw how much concern and sympathy you have shown, representing your countries and organizations, we have decided that things should be made clear and transparent,  so as to live up to the human feelings that you have expressed.

We, as a government, and I personally, as you remember in the first days after the tragedy, have told you that the doors are wide open for aid to reach directly those affected by the disaster, that we do not, as a government, want to receive aid, and that we agree to any mechanism you put in place. This aid is for the people, hospitals, damaged houses and businesses, and for associations that contribute to reconstruction works.

We did that, not because we, as Lebanese citizens and officials, are not trustworthy, because that is an insult. Rather, it is because we wanted to wipe out that ugly depiction of the extent of waste and corruption in Lebanon.

The government will act as a bridge to ensure that aid directly reaches the affected people through associations and donors.

As you will see, the platform will provide full transparency regarding delivery and distribution.

An audit will be carried out by specialized companies, so that we can all be reassured that things are going as planned.

We hope that a new government will be formed as soon as possible, a Cabinet holding a reform agenda that must be up to the magnitude of this disaster.

The new government must address the causes that have led to the current situation; it must also change the political, economic, social and administrative environment, provided that it has the support of the people first and of all political forces.

Lebanon does not have the luxury of time.

Faithful to the principle of transparency and the need to adhere to standards and credibility, we came out with the idea of creating the electronic platform, and the United Kingdom's government had contributed to the establishment of this platform for the benefit of the Ministry of the Interior that has graciously offered it to us; Siren company has introduced some amendments on it and has helped us update it so as to meet our expectations.

The small and large support from friendly and brotherly donor countries, international institutions and organizations, and the diaspora, as well as the aid that was channeled via air, sea and land bridges, pinpoint everyone's concern for Lebanon and its people. While we highly appreciate such swift initiatives, we have preferred that this platform be a publicly accessible window for all those wishing to take stock at all aid-related information in a detailed and transparent manner, and at the list of requirements for the return of affected citizens to their homes and businesses before wintertime.

In order for the platform to succeed, we hope that all countries, donors and charities, as well as all supporters from Lebanon and abroad, will proceed to the nomination of a focal point to coordinate with the task force or access the platform and download information related to the type and amount of aid provided and distributed by each party through our website https: //dcp.pcm.gov.lb.

As Gibran Khalil Gibran said in an article entitled "Dead Are My People," during the famine that struck Lebanon during World War 1:

"They died while their hands stretched toward the East and West, while the remnants of their eyes stared at the blackness of the firmament.

And oftentimes they say unto me: The disaster of your country is but naught to calamity of the World; Yes, but the death of my people is a silent accusation, it is a crime conceived by the heads of the unseen serpents... It is a sceneless tragedy.

The kindness which compels you to give a part of your life to any human who is in the shadow of losing his life is the only virtue which makes you worthy of the light of day and the peace of the night".

To conclude, I thank you all and I kindly ask you to extend the appreciation of the Lebanese government and people to your respective people, government and leadership.

 

Subsequently, the attendees were briefed about the field facts, material statistics, human losses, and how to recover from the aftermath of the port explosion disaster. Then Brigadier General Sami Al-Howayek made a detailed presentation of the work mechanism carried out by the Lebanese army, and went over the stages of reconstruction of the affected areas, implementation modalities, and relevant mechanisms.