World Bank Pledges $37 Mn to Help Lebanon Teachers

A participant stands near a logo of World Bank at the International Monetary Fund - World Bank Annual Meeting 2018 in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, October 12, 2018. REUTERS/Johannes P. Christo/File Photo
A participant stands near a logo of World Bank at the International Monetary Fund - World Bank Annual Meeting 2018 in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, October 12, 2018. REUTERS/Johannes P. Christo/File Photo
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World Bank Pledges $37 Mn to Help Lebanon Teachers

A participant stands near a logo of World Bank at the International Monetary Fund - World Bank Annual Meeting 2018 in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, October 12, 2018. REUTERS/Johannes P. Christo/File Photo
A participant stands near a logo of World Bank at the International Monetary Fund - World Bank Annual Meeting 2018 in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, October 12, 2018. REUTERS/Johannes P. Christo/File Photo

The World Bank on Thursday said it agreed with its partners to repurpose $37 million in funds to help Lebanon's public school teachers survive a crushing economic crisis.

The World Bank and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office would divert the money from the Lebanon Syrian Crisis Trust Fund, which aims to assist Lebanese communities accommodating Syrian refugees, the bank said in a statement.

It would be used to "provide financial incentives to public school teachers suffering from the severe economic and financial crisis in Lebanon to ensure they can purchase fuel to travel to work," the statement added.

The "exceptional" financing, which is valid only for the 2021-2022 academic year, came at the request of Lebanon's government, AFP quoted the bank as saying.

Lebanon, home to more than one million refugees from war-torn Syria, is grappling with an economic crisis that the World Bank has branded as one of the worst the world has seen in modern times.

More than 80 percent of the population lives in poverty and the local currency, the pound, has lost 90 percent of its value against the dollar on the black market.

Public school teachers who were already underpaid before the onset of the economic crisis two years ago have since been pushed deeper into poverty.

Their salaries in pounds are a fraction of what they used to be due to the currency's rapid devaluation.

Many cannot afford to purchase fuel to go to work after the government gradually lifted subsidies causing the price of hydrocarbons to more than quadruple within a few months.

To fill a medium-sized vehicle's tank, Lebanese motorists would now have to pay more than the monthly minimum wage of 675,000 pounds ($25).



Sudan Welcomes Turkish Offer to Mediate with the UAE

Sudanese army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan meets with Turkish deputy Foreign Minister Burhanettin Duran in Port Sudan on Saturday. (Sudanese Transitional Sovereignty Council/Facebook)
Sudanese army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan meets with Turkish deputy Foreign Minister Burhanettin Duran in Port Sudan on Saturday. (Sudanese Transitional Sovereignty Council/Facebook)
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Sudan Welcomes Turkish Offer to Mediate with the UAE

Sudanese army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan meets with Turkish deputy Foreign Minister Burhanettin Duran in Port Sudan on Saturday. (Sudanese Transitional Sovereignty Council/Facebook)
Sudanese army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan meets with Turkish deputy Foreign Minister Burhanettin Duran in Port Sudan on Saturday. (Sudanese Transitional Sovereignty Council/Facebook)

The Sudanese government welcomed on Saturday Türkiye's offer to mediate between Sudan and the United States.

The mediation was presented by Turkish deputy Foreign Minister Burhanettin Duran, who is visiting Sudan.

Sudanese FM Ali Youssef told Asharq Al-Awsat that Sudan welcomes the initiative, describing the Turkish official’s visit as a “success”.

The FM had stressed in previous remarks the importance of negotiating with Abu Dhabi, adding that the “door for negotiations with the UAE will always be open.”

Duran visited the interim capital Port Sudan at the head of a delegation from his ministry.

The trip took place in wake of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s offer to Sudanese army commander and head of the Transitional Sovereignty Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to mediate between Sudan and the UAE.