In line with its previous efforts to support students in French schools in Lebanon, France has established a program to help newly-arrived Lebanese students in France.
“In order to support these students and help bring young French and Lebanese people together, the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs has established the €3 million Ma’akum (With You) program,” the ministry said in a statement.
The program, which funds amounts to about US$ 3,561,510.00, is being implemented by Campus France and targets nearly 3,000 newly-arrived Lebanese students enrolled in public institutes of higher education.
The statement said that France’s efforts within the framework of the Ma’akum program reflect “its commitment to helping the Lebanese people, notably its youth, to overcome the crisis, and its determination to promote international mobility and scientific exchanges between France and Lebanon.”
The program, which French President Emmanuel Macron said would be established when he was in Lebanon in September, is separate from the scholarships awarded by France to exceptional students.
It is to note that France was one of the first countries to pledge support for Lebanon in the wake of the Beirut Port explosion.
“The emergency humanitarian assistance provided after the explosion on August 4, 2020, in Beirut, was further supplemented and boosted by €50 million in financial support for Lebanon in the areas of health, employment, housing, culture, and education,” the statement noted.
Before the explosion, in response to Lebanon’s economic crisis, France pledged €15 million to support the francophone school network in Lebanon.
