World must help Lebanon handle Syrian refugee flood - UNICEF

Syrian refugees, who fled the unrest in Syria, receive humanitarian aid at a refugee charity organisation in Tripoli, northern Lebanon April 21, 2012. REUTERS/Omar Ibrahim

KFAR ZABAD, Lebanon (Reuters) - International donors must do more to help Lebanon absorb a flood of refugees straining its schools and public services, the head of the United Nations children's fund UNICEF said.

Lebanon, the smallest of Syria's neighbours, is giving sanctuary to the largest number of refugees from the civil war across its border and Syrians now number around a quarter of its own population of just over 4 million.