Macron held the second conference to support Lebanon, what are the discussed points?

The second virtual international conference to "support the Lebanese people"

French President Emmanuel Macron and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres chaired on the 2nd of December, Wednesday, a virtual international conference to "support the Lebanese people", four months after the devastating explosion in the Beirut port. Heads of state, international organizations, multilateral donors, non-governmental organizations and representatives of the Lebanese civil society were invited to participate in this conference. According to the French presidency, the point of the meeting was to discuss the assistance which had been provided by the international community, and to evaluate the arrangements for its distribution since the August 9th conference, and consider new needs and work to meet them, in the context of the crisis facing Lebanon.

Macron insisted on holding the new conference despite the failure of the Lebanese political class to fulfill its commitment to form a new government of independent specialists in order to launch structural reforms demanded by the international community in exchange for long-term support for Lebanon.

In recent months, the economic crisis in Lebanon has intensified, which the World Bank described as a "deliberate depression", denouncing the "lack of political consensus around national priorities" which "severely impedes Lebanon's ability to implement long-term, insightful development policies."

In short, even with the devastating blast, the dissolution of the economy, and International backing Lebanese elites still had not formed any progressive government. Probably a more hardline policy change, adopted by the French side, may be a solution to force Lebanese factions and politicians to quit their stalling.   

Communication and Public Relations Department