The Republic of Cyprus through its agency, CYPRUSAID has agreed to provide more than USD600,000 for UN-HABITAT's post conflict reconstruction programme in Lebanon.  A UN-HABITAT statement said an agreement signed last week marked the first time that the agency had received funding from the Government of Cyprus. The monies will go towards a governance project aimed at strengthening local authorities so that they and the communities they serve will have the capacity to plan, guide, monitor and control the design and rebuilding of homes, businesses and villages destoryed when Israel sent thousands of troops into southern Lebanon and conducted air raids further north during a month of conflict in July 2006 with the Hezbollah movement.
UN-HABITAT also said the European Commission Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) will provide an additional USD400,000 for a mobile reconstruction team comprising local engineers, architects and land surveyors. The idea is that they will travel from place to place for 10 days at a time to help see to reconstruction needs.
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