Some 120 women from 15 countries visited a camp for Syrian refugees in Lebanon on Friday as part of an initiative dubbed "Pedal for Peace."

The bike-riding visitors include women from Germany, Italy, China, Japan, Belgium, Turkey, Palestine and Jordan.

Pedal for Peace was launched by the UK-based charity Follow the Women, which aims to build links between women from diverse cultures and beliefs.

"I was shocked to see sufferings of refugees in camps and how they are eager to return to their homes once the war is over," said Sabine Crook from Darmstadt, Germany.

"It was a shock to me that people do not look forward to the future. They only live day by day," she told dpa.

The visitors handed gifts to refugee children.

The organizer of the event, Jawad Sbeiti, said the aim was to promote Lebanon as a sanctuary for peace and coexistence.

The cyclists started their tour of Lebanon on September 30. They have already visited some Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.

They will end their trip on Saturday with a cycle trip across the capital Beirut.

Lebanon hosts some 1.5 million Syrians displaced by more than six years of war in their homeland.

Lebanon is also hosting about 500,000 Palestinians, a situation that officials say has put such strain on the country's limited resources.