(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) NEW YORK, June 23 (KUNA) - UN official said Lebanon pays high price politically, economically and in terms of its security for being extraordinary exposed to regional dynamic, to the Syrian conflict and to the regional tension.
During a press conference held at UN headquarters, the Deputy Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Philippe Lazzarini, highlighted he was told that Lebanon is a resilient country known for managing crisis on the edge. "It is in the interest of no one to try to find out how far resilience can go, because like any resilience, it erodes, and I think it is in none of our interests to find out where the tipping point of this resilience would be," he added.
After nearly one year in his post, Lazzarini said the country is paying a high price economically, noting that all indicators are declining. The UN official gave specific examples of the challenges Lebanon currently facing, including extremely high national debt, a failing economy, skyrocketing of unemployment, the exodus of youth graduating from universities, in addition to a main challenge which is more than 1.5 million Syrian refugees.
The UN official told reporters that Lebanon is the country with the highest number of refugees.
That said, Lazzarini said despite all the efforts of the international community, the vulnerability of the people is declining year after year.
Lazzaroni, who is also the UNDP Resident Representative on Lebanon, expressed concern that the country is without a president for more than two years now. "No one would have expected that it would be so long and there is absolutely no doubt that the resolution of this presidential vacuum is a priority because the absence of a president is impacting the smooth running of the institutions," he said. The UN official called for the need of a "comprehensive and multi-faceted economic approach," urging members of the international community to show more risk-sharing with the country. (end) mao.rk