Ban, World Bank Chief in Beirut this Month

Local Editor

UN chief Ban Ki-moon is expected to visit Beirut on March 24 for talks with top Lebanese officials and to inspect the encampments of Syrian refugees, an official Lebanese source said.

Other sources told al-Hayat pan-Arab daily that Ban will be accompanied by World Bank President Jim Yong Kim.

Kim's talks with the Lebanese officials are expected to focus on the projects that the World Bank is planning to implement in Lebanon to help it confront the refugee crisis.

Their visit would come a month after world leaders pledged more than $10 billion to help fund schools, shelter and jobs for refugees from Syria's war.

At a meeting they held in London in February, the world leaders aspired to bring new urgency to the effort to help the 4.6 million Syrians who have sought refuge in neighboring countries including Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey. Another 6 million people or more are displaced within Syria, and a quarter of a million have been killed.

Other than the refugee crisis, Ban Ki-moon aims to send a message to Lebanese officials during his visit to Beirut on the swift need for the election of a new president.

The sources said the UN continues to warn Lebanon's leaders that the presidential vacuum, which paralyzes the work of constitutional institutions, would reflect negatively on international assistance.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team