BEIRUT, May 30 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) launched Thursday an employment program for the conflict-displaced Lebanese from the border villages in southern Lebanon.
During a Thursday gathering with media representatives in southern Lebanon, Hassan Dbouq, head of the Union of Tyre Municipalities, which co-launched the program, said the displaced would be arranged in cleaning and agricultural work for an average of five hours daily in return for 10 U.S. dollars.
Dubbed "Work for Cash," the program allows each displaced person to work 20 days a month and receive 200 dollars.
According to the latest report of the Disaster Management Unit, the number of displaced southerners reached 81,000. The southern city of Tyre hosted the largest number, 27,400 displaced persons, followed by Nabatieh Governorate, which has 26,911 displaced persons.
A media source in the Southern Council told Xinhua that the Lebanese Council of Ministers, in its last session on Wednesday, approved about 1 million dollars to support some of the victim families as a result of the Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon since Oct. 8, 2023.
Tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border escalated on Oct. 8, 2023, following a barrage of rockets launched by the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah toward Israel in solidarity with Hamas' attack on Israel the day before. Israel then retaliated by firing heavy artillery toward southeastern Lebanon. ■
