Caretaker Minister of Interior Bassam Mawlawi held a meeting on Monday grouping UN agency representatives and the heads of Lebanon’s governorates, as part of his bid to coordinate disaster and crisis management efforts.
The meeting was attended by Melanie Hauenstein, resident representative for Lebanon of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the governors of Beirut Marwan Abboud, Mount Lebanon Mohammad Mekawi, North Lebanon Ramzi Nohra, the Bekaa Kamal Abou Jawdeh, Baalbeck – Hermel Bachir Khodor, and Akkar Imad Labaki.
Surprisingly, the governor of south Lebanon was not present at the meeting.
Discussions centered on the governorates’ readiness and capacity to implement the emergency plan set by the Ministry.
Hauenstein assured UNDP’s readiness to coordinate with other United Nations agencies operating in Lebanon to meet the needs of all provinces.
In parallel, Caretaker Minister of Information Ziad Makari received on Monday a number of ambassadors inquiring about the preparations taken by the Lebanese government to ensure the safety of foreign residents in case the conflict escalates and Lebanon becomes involved in the war.
Makari said that the meeting with the ambassadors of Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Cuba, Mexico, Chile, Uruguay and Colombia tackled the situation of 50,000 Latin American nationals living in Lebanon, assuring that the government is concerned about their safety.
Makari stated that the government is studying daily emergency plans, and the Ministry of Information issues daily bulletins regarding the developments in the country, especially in the South, including movements of displaced citizens.
“Coordination with the ambassadors will continue on a daily and weekly basis, and the government will fulfill its direct responsibilities towards the citizens of those countries,” he said.
