The UK is one of the leading donors in supporting Lebanon to host both Syrian and Palestinian refugees. Since 2011, the UK has allocated over £787 million in humanitarian and development funding to Lebanon. Our humanitarian assistance will continue to promote access to education and provide those most in need with timely, flexible assistance and protection services to cover their basic survival needs and reduce gender-based violence, saving lives and reducing suffering. The UK is also a key supporter to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) which provides vital services to Palestinian refugees across their five fields of operation, including in Lebanon.

Attendance at the conference will be confirmed shortly.

Lebanon is facing a severe economic and political crisis, which the World Bank has warned could rank in the top ten, possibly top three, most severe crises globally since the mid-nineteenth century. Its people are suffering from the failure of Lebanon's political elites to form a government and deliver much-needed and long-promised reforms, exacerbated by the public health crisis caused by COVID-19 and the aftermath of the Beirut port explosion in August 2020.

The UK is a long-standing friend of Lebanon. Since 2011, the UK has allocated over £780 million in humanitarian and development funding to Lebanon. The UK and members of the International Support Group for Lebanon stand with the people of Lebanon in their time of need, but we are clear that Lebanon's leaders need to form a capable government and implement a credible reform process as the only sustainable way to address the crisis. I made this clear in my public message following Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Hariri's resignation on 15 July.

Since 2011, the UK has allocated over £780 million in humanitarian and development funding to Lebanon. We have provided 1.1 million people with sustainable access to clean water and sanitation, and improved infrastructure and services in over 220 municipalities. In the aftermath of the Beirut port explosion in August 2020, the UK was one of the biggest donors to the response, providing over £27 million of assistance to support the most vulnerable. The UK is at forefront of support to Lebanon's response to coronavirus and has contributed nearly £4.5 million for medical supplies via the World Health Organisation and support through the British Red Cross as well as funding 10 isolation centres.

FCDO's 21/22 planned country allocations (budgets) will be published in our Annual Report later this year alongside our audited 20/21 accounts. HMG's final 2021 ODA spend, including country data will be published in the 'Statistics on International Development: Final UK Aid Spend' in autumn 2022. We will continue to publish our spend information by project on DevTracker.

We do not speculate about possible future sanctions designations. The UK, the EU, and others in the International Support Group for Lebanon have long been clear that Lebanon's political leaders must implement the reforms to which they have committed. This is the only way to sustainably address the socioeconomic and political crisis the country faces.