Lebanon was allocated one third of needed aid for Syrian refugees

Lebanon will receive only one third of the aid requested from international donors to handle the country’s Syrian refugee crisis over the next two years, An-Nahar reported on Saturday.

Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas announced last week that Lebanon would seek $2.1 billion in aid. His announcement came few days before the Kuwait III conference.

Derbas said the amount was crucial for Lebanon to handle the Syrian refugees without increasing the budget deficit in the coming two years.

An-Nahar said the funds will be provided to UNHCR which will in turn spend over a period of two years.

After the conference last Tuesday, U.N. General Secretary Ban Ki-moon announced that $3.8 billion was pledged by international donors to help the refugees

The amount almost equals the combined total of $3.9 billion promised at the two previous conferences.

The EU pledged nearly 1.1 billion euros ($1.2 billion), double the amount the bloc offered last year, while Kuwait opened the conference with a pledge of $500 million.

The United States pledged $507 million and NGOs committed more than $500 million.

Other major contributions came from Britain with $150 million, United Arab Emirates with $100 million and Norway which pledged $93 million.

There are more than 1.5 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Well over half of them are living in insecure dwellings – up from a third last year. The country has struggled to cope with their burden since the eruption of the Syrian conflict in March 2011.