Attachments
IFRC Funding requirement: 20 million CHF (integrated under 37 million CHF Emergency Appeal for Lebanon Complex Humanitarian Crisis)
To assist: 105,600 people (Beirut Port Explosion Component)
SITUATION UPDATE
Humanitarian conditions
The double explosion at the port of Beirut on 4 August 2020, caused by the detonation of hundreds of tons of highly explosive fertilizer stored at the port, took over 200 lives, left over 6,000 people with physical injuries and others with psychological distress, and displaced over 300,000 people whose homes were damaged or destroyed.
Recovery from the impacts of this event has been complicated by the deterioration of the broader crisis which began in late 2019. Lebanon’s socioeconomic collapse has spiraled into one of the top three most severe economic crises the world has seen since the 1850s, according to the World Bank. Lebanon is also impacted by civil unrest and uncertainty in the governance environment.
The complex crisis in the country has severe impacts on access to basic necessities. As of 2021, over 80% of people in Lebanon are living in multidimensional poverty, which reflects deprivation across areas such as healthcare, electricity, water, sanitation, transportation, connectivity, and means of income. This represents a doubling of the multidimensional poverty rate from 42% in 2019.
Since 2019, food prices have soared by 998% leaving food out of reach for growing numbers. World Food Programme surveys found that 34% of Lebanese, 50% of Syrian refugees, and 33% of refugees of other nationalities are food insecure.
The situation has also led to a crisis in the quality and accessibility of healthcare. Medicines previously subsidized have become difficult to source and providers have had to cut hours or operational capacity due to reduced fuel and supplies. WHO estimated in September 2021 that 40% of doctors and 15-17% of nurses have left the country. COVID-19 continues to affect health and economic recovery. With less than half of the population vaccinated as of early 2022, Lebanon remains vulnerable to continued transmission of COVID-19 including of variants.
Current conditions pose risks for those already vulnerable including people who are migrants and refugees, a group that comprises more than one in four in the country. Most Syrian and Palestinian refugees were living in poverty before 2019 and have experienced increasingly dire circumstances. The 2020 Vulnerability Assessment of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon (VASyR) revealed that 88% of Syrian refugees in Lebanon were living below the extreme poverty line. While poverty among Palestinian refugees in Lebanon has not been measured systematically since 2015, the rate at that time was 65% while 2020 UNRWA post-distribution surveys found that 87% of Palestinian refugees from Syria were impoverished.