Attachments
DEMAC launches a New Report on “Diaspora Humanitarian Engagement in Lebanon.”
Real-Time Study in 2024 and 2025: Understanding the Response of the Lebanese Diaspora
When the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah escalated in late September 2024, Lebanon was once again thrust into turmoil. This Real-Time Review (RTR), covering the period from September 2024 to February 2025, offers a window into how the Lebanese diaspora mobilised rapidly to deliver aid and support recovery efforts. To capture this effort, the RTR followed a two-step approach: first, mapping 140 diaspora-led initiatives identified through global desk research; and second, conducting in-depth interviews with 21 organisations, both in the diaspora and inside Lebanon, to understand how they operated, collaborated, and adapted.
Grassroots Power: Passion and Fragmentation
One of the study’s most striking findings was the sheer energy and responsiveness of the diaspora - but also the high degree of fragmentation. Most initiatives were grassroots in nature—volunteer-driven, informally structured, and short-term, emerging within tight-knit communities and often operated in isolation. Unaware of parallel efforts, this fragmented landscape created significant challenges for these groups, including limited capacity, lack of coordination, and difficulties navigating the bureaucratic and logistical landscape of aid delivery in Lebanon.