Australia Grants UNICEF $23 Million for Lebanon Education

The U.N. children's agency said Tue that Australia has granted it 30 million Australian dollars, or about $23 million, to boost access to education for vulnerable children in Lebanon over the next three years.

A UNICEF statement said the announcement was made during Australian Governor-General Peter Cosgrove's visit to a Lebanese public school.

More than 1 million Syrian refugees have fled war in their country to neighboring Lebanon, straining local resources. Tens of thousands of Syrian children now attend Lebanese public schools.

Cosgrove lauded the Lebanese government's efforts in hosting Syrian refugees and said at the school, flanked by Education Minister Marwan Hamade, that "what we see here today is the best proof of this support."

Tanya Chapuisat, UNICEF's representative in Lebanon, said it's only through education that societies can end intergenerational cycles of poverty and discrimination.