From 18 to 22 June 2019, a Monegasque delegation led by Isabelle Rosabrunetto, Director General of the Department of External Relations and Cooperation, paid a visit to Lebanon, to discuss the partnerships supported by the Monegasque Cooperation, in the fields health, education and socio-economic integration of the most vulnerable populations.
A little more than a year after the arrival of Gilles Tonelli in Lebanon, Government Counselor-Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Prince’s Government, this visit was also an opportunity to strengthen the ties of friendship between the two States during an interview at the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
At the invitation of Fondation Mérieux, the Lebanese NGO Amel and the Municipality of Douris, supported by Monac, Isabelle Rosabrunetto participated in the official inauguration of a Mother-Child Health Center in Douris, alongside Jamil Jabak, Lebanese Minister of Health.
“The work we are celebrating is a great example of how important you are – and how important – to the health and well-being of the people of this often-felt region of Lebanon. I am thinking in particular of children this year as we celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children. It is to them that we must provide the best protection to guarantee their future,” said Isabelle Rosabrunetto on this occasion
After meeting with Claudio Cordone, Director of UNRWA in Lebanon, the head of the delegation also visited the Bourj el-Barajneh camp in Beirut, including a health center catering for Palestinian refugees.
Also in the health sector, the first area of intervention of the Monegasque Cooperation in Lebanon, the delegation went to Kefraya, Bekaa, to attend the care operations of the Mobile Medical Unit of the Lebanese Association, Knights of the Order of Malta (ALCM) in an informal Syrian camp. This trip ended with a moment of sharing with the elderly people of the ALCM day center supported for more than three years by the Prince’s Government.
Long-standing collaboration
As a reminder that bilateral cooperation between the two states was initiated in 1993. In total it was more than 6 million euros that were invested by Monaco in Lebanon in response to socio-economic issues. In the current context of the Syrian crisis, the Principality wished to intensify its support for this country. Lebanon is today the first host country in terms of the number of refugees compared to its national population (1 refugee for every 3 Lebanese).
*Article originally published on the French edition of the Monaco Tribune.