The UN Secretary General is going to Lebanon
“I look forward to traveling to Lebanon after my quarantine ends this weekend,” Antonio Guterres told reporters at local time on Thursday.
Earlier, a spokesman for the UN secretary-general said that Guterres had been quarantined for some time despite receiving a third dose of the corona vaccine because of a relationship with someone who tested positive for the corona.
“The visit is at the invitation of the Lebanese government, and I will express my solidarity with the Lebanese people, who have suffered for a long time,” the UN Secretary-General told reporters.
Guterres will arrive in Lebanon on Sunday (December 19th), according to a UN statement.
The statement said that this will be a meeting to express the UN solidarity with the country and the Lebanese people.
The UN Secretary-General will meet with government officials, including President Michel Aoun, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Najib Mikati, as well as a number of Lebanese religious leaders and civil society.
The statement said Guterres would pay tribute to the victims of the Beirut port bombing and would also conduct field visits to interact with people affected by Lebanon’s various crises.
According to the statement, the UN Secretary-General will travel to southern Lebanon to visit UN temporary troops in Lebanon and parts of the waterline.
Guterres is scheduled to leave Lebanon on December 22 (December 1).
According to IRNA, Lebanon is currently facing its worst financial crisis in history due to foreign conspiracies and internal corruption; In recent months, the value of the country’s currency has fallen by more than 150 percent, so that two years ago the exchange rate of each US dollar with the Lebanese lira was 1,500 lira against one dollar, which in recent days has risen to more than 25,000 lira. Reached against one dollar.
In recent months, the prices of goods and services in Lebanon have skyrocketed and inflation has risen by more than 100% in 12 consecutive months.
Lebanon’s Central Statistics Office says food prices have quadrupled since 2020, which means that two-thirds of Lebanon’s 4.2 million people are currently living below the poverty line.
The economic situation in Lebanon is so bad these days that the United Nations has warned that 80% of the Lebanese people do not have the money to buy food.
.