FRANCE-LEBANON DONATION FUNDS

The Lebanese population has been facing a serious, multifaceted crisis since October 1, 2019. This is at the same time financial, economic, monetary, humanitarian, social and health. Since August 4, 2020, the consequences of the large-scale disaster caused by the explosion at the port of Beirut have been added.

This crisis came to light on October 17, 2019. As of November 2019, actions intended to come to the aid of a hard-hit population began to be implemented by organizations or by members of the Lebanese diaspora ( see boxes below).

Wishing to supplement its economic vocation with a humanitarian and social commitment, the Franco-Lebanese Chamber of Commerce (CCFL), took the initiative to set up an endowment fund. This is an intervention tool that offers the advantage of giving donors, tax residents in France, the possibility of benefiting from a tax credit, excluding IFIs

The CCFL wished to offer other Lebanese associations in France the possibility of joining it as co-founders. The Franco-Lebanese Association of IT Professionals (AFPI) responded positively to this proposal. This possibility remains open to one or two other organizations which express their intention and are co-opted by the board of directors, within six months of the creation of the fund.

The primary objective is to bring together the means that allow emergency intervention with people in distress. Aware of the need to make their action long-term, the founders wished to broaden the purpose of the fund to actions of general interest in the service of the common good. The France-Lebanon Endowment Fund (FDFL) is now officially created, the announcement having been published in the official journal on August 1, 2020.

The object of the FDFL is to promote and carry out, directly or indirectly through other non-profit organizations, any initiative of general interest allowing:

• To preserve the basic needs of the individual, by aiming to:
  Any Lebanese national residing in France or Lebanon; any person of Lebanese mother or father residing in France or Lebanon; any French national residing in Lebanon.
• And to promote and preserve essential Lebanese collective goods by targeting:
  Cultural heritage, environmental heritage and the economic environment.

The CCFL provided an initial endowment of 15,000 Euro and its board of directors decided to pay half of the contributions of its members to the FDFL for the year 2020, AFPI contributed with a contribution of 2 000 Euro.

Lebanese students abroad quickly found themselves in difficulty, with their parents unable to provide them with their livelihoods due to restrictions imposed by Lebanese banks on remittances abroad. The containment measures taken as part of the fight against the coronavirus pandemic aggravated their difficulties and a number of extra jobs were interrupted. 145,000 EUR were collected and distributed to more than 500 Lebanese students in France. The remainder of this mission was paid to the FDFL and strictly assigned to the same purpose.

The supply of drugs and medical supplies became extremely difficult in Lebanon at the end of 2019. The mobilization of the Lebanese diaspora in Paris made it possible to obtain the support of the pharmaceutical NGO TULIPE and of the Cross – French red. A ton of drugs and small medical supplies, in accordance with a list provided by the Lebanese Red Cross, was transported to Beirut by a flight that left Paris on April 7, 2020. The products, handed over to the Lebanese Red Cross, were sent to Beirut. been distributed in its various dispensaries. The freight was offered by the MEA. The remainder of the donations collected for this operation was devoted to the purchase of protective equipment against the coronavirus, for the relief workers of the Lebanese Red Cross.