Libya 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.
Libya snapshot
Appeal highlights
The armed conflict in Libya escalated in 2019, and as a result, 893,000 people, including 268,000 children, require humanitarian assistance. Children in Tripoli, Derna and urban areas in the west and south are particularly vulnerable.
There are nearly 356,000 internally displaced persons and 448,000 returnees. Approximately 243,000 people require water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) assistance, 127 children are in need of education support, 526,000 people require health assistance and 220,000 children need protection services.
Following the Libyan National Army incursion on the Government of National Accord in Tripoli and the conflict in Murzuq, 170,000 people have been newly displaced. There have been widespread violations of international law, including attacks on health, water and education facilities and humanitarian workers. Since April 2019, 500,000 children have experienced disruptions to their education in western Libya. Conflict-affected areas are experiencing water shortages, stock-outs of health supplies and vaccine-preventable diseases, including measles.
Of the 636,000 migrants and refugees in Libya, 8 per cent are minors vulnerable to grave violations of child rights. Detained migrant and refugee children are held in inhumane conditions and detention centres have been hit by airstrikes. In 2019, over 700 migrants and refugees, including children, died crossing the Mediterranean from Libya.
Key planned results for 2020
70,000 children accessing mental health and psychosocial support
40,000 children receiving individual learning materials
100,000 children and women received primary health care in UNICEF-supported facilities
Funding requirements for 2020
Country strategy
UNICEF will prioritize life-saving assistance to the most vulnerable through humanitarian aid, while continuing to strengthen basic service delivery in accordance with the United Nations Strategic Framework. To reinforce the linkages between humanitarian and development programming, UNICEF will prioritize coordination and capacity building for partners, including local authorities.
UNICEF co-leads the inter-agency Rapid Response Mechanism, providing at-scale aid through pre-positioned supplies; direct cash assistance in sudden-onset emergencies; and life-saving assistance to hard-to-reach areas. UNICEF also leads the WASH and education sectors and the child protection and nutrition sub-sectors. UNICEF will continue to build partnerships with line ministries, municipalities and non-governmental organizations and develop national capacities, particularly regarding humanitarian principles, emergency preparedness and response.
Key UNICEF priorities include multi-sectoral humanitarian assistance, as well as community mobilization and awareness-raising, particularly targeting the most vulnerable children (including children on the move). UNICEF will provide safe water and sanitation facilities, support primary health clinics with maternal and neonatal health, and deliver nutrition packages. UNICEF will continue to support the national immunization programme and undertake punctual emergency immunization campaigns, if necessary. Formal and non-formal education and child protection services, including for gender-based violence, will be expanded in schools and community centres.
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 Libya; the strategies that we are using to respond to these situations; and the donor support that is essential in this response.
