Attachments
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.
HUMANITARIAN SITUATION AND 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.