BEIRUT, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced on Tuesday the completion of its project to rehabilitate 280 educational institutions damaged by two powerful blasts that rocked Beirut port in 2020.
"Thanks to donors and the mobilization of UNESCO team and all our partners, the goal of rehabilitating the 280 damaged educational institutions has been reached," UNESCO said in a statement.
On Aug. 4, 2020, two powerful explosions destroyed 80 percent of the infrastructure in downtown Beirut, including 280 educational institutions, forcing at least 85,000 students out of school, according to the statement.
After the blasts, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay launched in Beirut an international initiative to facilitate the recovery of the city. A total of 35 million U.S. dollars were collected to support the initiative named Li Beirut (meaning "For Beirut" in Arabic). ■
