Kristalina Georgieva, Member of the EC in charge of International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, travelled to Beirut, Baabda, Bar Elias and the Bekaa Valley, on the Lebanese-Syrian border, where she met with Syrians who fled the violence in their homeland. She assessed the most urgent needs. The 157,000 registered refugees in Lebanon are scattered across some 500 municipalities, often living in crowded rental housing, with over-burdened host families, or in various types of collective centres and renovated accommodation – much of it substandard. During her stay, she also visited the Palestinian refugee camp of Bourj el-Barajneh.
Kristalina Georgieva was accompanied by António Guterres, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.