UN to rehabilitate municipal facilities damaged in Beirut blasts with German bank's support

UN Office

BEIRUT, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Germany's KfW Development Bank and the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) have signed an agreement to rehabilitate the municipal facilities damaged by the Beirut Port explosion in the next three years, a UN press release said Wednesday.

The rehabilitation work by the UNOPS also aims to restore critical urban services including roads and wastewater networks and provide solar energy solutions, with the financial support of 20 million euros (22.2 million U.S. dollars) from the KfW bank, according to the UN press release.

"Our latest partnership with KfW in Lebanon seeks to enhance community resilience and promote social cohesion through improving access to critical services offered by Beirut and Bourj Hammoud municipalities," Muhammad Usman Akram, UNOPS director of the Amman Multi-country Office, was quoted as saying in the press release.

The UNOPS project will also support creative, effective, and sustainable small initiatives to the benefit of the affected communities.

On Aug. 4, 2020, two huge explosions ripped through the Beirut Port, killing more than 200, destroying most of the port's facilities, and severely damaging the neighborhoods within the six-km range of the Lebanese port.