UNICEF’s Lebanon Country Office – Who We Are

For 70 years, UNICEF has worked to improve the lives of children living in Lebanon and their families.

In 1948, UNICEF opened its first outpost in the Eastern Mediterranean area in Beirut. The office grew to become UNICEF's Middle East and North Africa Regional Office (MENARO).

In February 1984, when the MENARO moved to the Jordanian capital of Amman, the Beirut office became a Country Office, focusing its services on Lebanon alone.

UNICEF works closely with the Government of Lebanon, and other UN agencies as well as international and local NGOs, universities, and more than 100 partners, to meet the needs of over 1.4 million vulnerable children in Lebanon.

Since the onset of the conflict in Syria in 2011, the UNICEF Lebanon Country Office (LCO) has provided emergency assistance to displaced and vulnerable Syrians arriving within the nation’s borders.

Between 2012 and 2017, the UNICEF LCO substantially expanded its human and financial resources. It has grown from a staff of around 20 to more than 240, and its annual budget has increased from US$2.5 million to over US$480 million (in 2017). A Level 3 emergency response to the Syrian refugee crisis has necessitated the expansion of many components of the regular programme and a stronger programmatic coherence.

UNICEF Lebanon has also invested in building capacities of the Government of Lebanon to collect and use evidence-based information on vulnerable children and youth including poor Lebanese and refugees.

Support to critical surveys and assessments has allowed the programmatic response to target the neediest and apply the equity approach such as the vulnerability survey, Water Quality Survey (through the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water) and the area profiles assessment.

UNICEF Lebanon Country Office also supports the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE) in monitoring school enrolment and attendance for both Lebanese and non-Lebanese students.