Lebanon Appeal
Humanitarian Action for Children
UNICEF’s Humanitarian Action for Children appeal helps support the agency’s work as it provides conflict- and disaster-affected children with access to water, sanitation, nutrition, education, health and protection services. Return to main appeal page.
Lebanon snapshot
Appeal highlights
- Lebanon’s unprecedented economic and financial crisis means that people can no longer afford basic commodities and services, and this has deepened the vulnerability of individuals and families. The acute watery diarrhoea (AWD)/cholera outbreak that began in October 2022 is the first in more than three decades and has added to daily risks, especially for children. Overall, 2.3 million Lebanese, 207,700 Palestinian refugees and 86,200 migrants (and altogether a total of 700,000 children) are facing multiple deprivations.
- UNICEF will prioritize ensuring access to basic social services to reduce the risk of families resorting to negative coping strategies. UNICEF expects to address urgent humanitarian needs through existing inclusive systems and by incorporating, in all its interventions, community-based approaches, resilience, gender and inclusion and protection from sexual exploitation and abuse.
- UNICEF requires US$153.1 million to support vulnerable populations affected by the economic crisis and subsequent shocks, including those affected by the cholera outbreak. This funding will help ensure that 3 million people have access to safe water and wastewater management systems. Around 180,000 children and women will have access to resilient primary health care amid the cholera epidemic and 40,000 people in vulnerable households, particularly youth with disabilities, will be provided with emergency social assistance.
Key planned results for 2023
180,000 children and women accessing primary health care
70,000 children receiving micronutrient powder
25,200 children/caregivers accessing community-based mental health and psychosocial support
3 million people accessing a sufficient quantity and quality of water
Funding requirements for 2023
Country needs and strategy
Humanitarian needs
Lebanon is grappling with an economic collapse, compounded by the impacts of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the recent AWD/cholera outbreak. Since October 2019, the Lebanese pound has lost more than 96 per cent of its value, leading to an average inflation rate of 162 per cent in 2022.
Lebanon’s critical water infrastructure is reaching a breaking point, threatening more than 4 million people's access to safe water. Systems managing wastewater are also deteriorating. UNICEF estimates most public water provision and the safe management of wastewater will gradually cease across Lebanon if an extensive package of support is not provided. Water shortages force households to rely on unsafe and untreated alternative water sources; and poor wastewater management poses extensive risks to environmental health. Decreased hygiene practices have led to an increased risk of diarrhoeal diseases, with infants and young children especially vulnerable.
An exodus of staff and shortages of medication and fuel have severely strained primary health care centres. For example, around 40 per cent of medical doctors have permanently emigrated or are working on a part-time basis outside of the country. Primary health care centres are rationing fuel by reducing opening hours, and more than 600 private pharmacies have temporarily closed. All crises combined are impacting preventive health services and health promotion activities, with immunization coverage dropping by more than 30 per cent.
The current crisis is also exacerbating gender-based violence. Data reveal a sharp increase in intimate partner violence among all nationalities in the last two years, accounting for 58 percent of all reported cases.
Learning losses stemming from multiple crises and inequitable access to remote learning during the last three school years will likely be irreversible without the urgent delivery of inclusive learning opportunities to recover lost learning. The economic crisis and the pandemic have disrupted education for more than 1.3 million school-aged children, with 700,000 children left out of school due to poverty and other factors. Children with disabilities and girls are among the most vulnerable children, are most of them are at risk of never returning to learning. Teachers' salaries have been devalued due to the currency crisis, and the urgent roll-out of teacher incentives is therefore required to ensure continuity and quality of learning.
As the situation deteriorates, families and caregivers are using negative coping mechanisms that often put children at risk. Children as young as 6 years of age are working on the streets, in agricultural fields or on construction sites, where they are exposed to risks of exploitation.
UNICEF’s strategy
In Lebanon, UNICEF will address the humanitarian needs of the most vulnerable children and young people and contribute to social cohesion through the provision of integrated programming. Where possible this will be linked toa longer-term strategy. UNICEF will ensure the neutrality of assistance and continue strengthening risk management. Programming will balance the delivery of services through public and private institutions and specialized civil society organizations, especially at the decentralized level. UNICEF will equip partners and engage communities with information and tools to promote gender-transformative programming. A fundamental strategy will be to strengthen partners' capacities to address the needs of children with disabilities and ensure child safeguarding and to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse.
As part of the Humanitarian Country Team and the emergency operations cell, UNICEF is leading the WASH, education, child protection and nutrition sectors and playing a key role in the social assistance, gender-based violence and health responses.
Efforts in child protection will continue to promote the well-being and protection of women, girls and boys and their families by preventing and mitigating risks of violence, abuse and exploitation of children and women. This includes providing such vital services as mental health and psychosocial support for children and caregivers.
UNICEF health, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and social and behavioural change programmes are working in a complementary way during the ongoing acute watery diarrhoea/cholera outbreak. UNICEF will work with the country's Water Establishments to ensure they have sufficient fuel, consumables and maintenance capacity to continue providing clean drinking water for nearly 3 million people. Where required, UNICEF will provide emergency support for wastewater treatment facilities.
Health and nutrition programming aims to strengthen primary health care to ensure equitable access to essential health services. The focus is on preventive care and health promotion activities, healthy nutrition practices and engaging caregivers in integrated social and behavioural change actions. For ongoing access to immunization, UNICEF will support the cold chain for 250 facilities to help 180,000 children catch up on missed vaccinations. In addition, UNICEF will support the health system with cholera treatment supplies for 180,000 people.
Social and behavioural change activities will include the use of behavioural and social science evidence to promote healthy and protective behaviours and community engagement.
The social policy programme will provide emergency social assistance to 40,000 people (particularly youth with disabilities) in vulnerable households. This complements the national child grant programme, which covers 130,000 of the most vulnerable children in the country under UNICEF's response for Syrian refugees.
The adolescent and youth programme will increase opportunities for meaningful participation, empowerment and income generation activities.
UNICEF is also working with partners across sectors on strengthening emergency preparedness and response systems.
Programme targets
Find out more about UNICEF's work
Highlights
Humanitarian Action is at the core of UNICEF’s mandate to realize the rights of every child. This edition of Humanitarian Action for Children – UNICEF’s annual humanitarian fundraising appeal – describes the ongoing crises affecting children in Lebanon; the strategies that we are using to respond to these situations; and the donor support that is essential in this response.
