Attachments
General Objective
The primary objective of the 2025 Multi-Sector Needs Assessment (MSNA) is to assess the multifaceted needs, coping strategies, and humanitarian situation across all four most affected governorates- South, El Nabatieh, Baalbek-El Hermel and Bekaa - as well as Baabda district in Mount Lebanon Governorate. This assessment will cover key population groups focusing on Lebanese nationals, migrants, and Palestine refugees.
The MSNA aims to support evidence-based prioritization of the humanitarian and stabilization response, accounting for variations in needs across different regions, population groups, and sectors. In addition, the findings will inform cross-crisis analysis and contribute to a coordinated interagency and intersectoral approach.
Rationale
Background
Since 2019, households in Lebanon have been caught in a deepening poverty crisis, driven by sustained income losses, soaring inflation, and severe currency depreciation. Assessments throughout 2023 revealed alarming vulnerabilities, showing that 32 percent of Lebanese, 76 percent of Syrian refugees, and 44 percent of Palestine refugees lacked the means to meet essential needs, with expenditures falling below the minimum expenditure basket. Despite significant cash assistance programs and remittances - which accounted for 36 percent of the GDP in 2022 and primarily benefited Lebanese residents - these challenges have persisted and, in many areas, worsened.
The Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) Acute Food Insecurity Analysis, updated in May 2025, estimated that approximately 21 percent of the population - around 1.17 million people including Lebanese citizens, Syrian refugees, and Palestine refugees - continue experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity between April and June 2025, marking a slight improvement compared to the previous analysis when 1.65 million people were classified in IPC Phase 3 or above.
This improvement is mainly attributed to the enforcement of the November 2024 ceasefire, along with a temporary surge in Humanitarian Food Security Assistance targeting the most vulnerable households. While this is progress, the sustainability of such gains is highly precarious. The impacts of conflict and the economic crisis in Lebanon continue to threaten recovery efforts, as infrastructure remains damaged, the economy remains stagnant, inflation continues rising, and funding prospects for humanitarian food security assistance in 2025 are negative. These compounding factors have further strained already fragile basic services such as health, water, electricity, and education, while political deadlock has limited effective governance and crisis management.
Throughout 2024 and into 2025, Lebanon’s socioeconomic crisis has deepened further, driven by a convergence of political paralysis, economic collapse, and escalating security threats. This fragile context deteriorated sharply following the outbreak of armed conflict along the southern border in mid-2024, which escalated into full-scale hostilities between July and November. The conflict displaced over 1 million people internally, with approximately 98,994 people remaining displaced as of February 2025 while 949,571 had returned to their communities. The conflict has caused extensive damage to critical infrastructure and agricultural assets, with damage to the agricultural sector estimated at US$79 million and losses at US$742 million according to the Lebanon Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment of March 2025. Despite the ceasefire declared on November 27th 2024, violence has been reduced but not eliminated, with Israeli forces still occupying five strategic hilltops and periodic airstrikes continuing.
The crisis was further exacerbated by a significant reduction in U.S. humanitarian and development assistance to Lebanon, officially announced in early 2025. This shift in policy led to the suspension or scale-down of several vital aid programs, including food assistance, health services, and education support, at a time when humanitarian needs were at their peak.
The withdrawal of this critical funding has severely weakened the capacity of humanitarian actors to respond effectively, further straining already overstretched systems and leaving vulnerable populations with diminished access to essential services.
In this challenging environment, vulnerable populations - including Lebanese households, Syrian and Palestine refugees, and migrants- face increasing barriers to accessing basic needs and services. The Households Assessment: Rapid Vulnerability and Needs Assessment conducted between January and March 2025 reports that only 0.4% of households were always able to access quality food in the quantities needed, with 65.6% reporting limited access to quality food.
Furthermore, WFP reported in April 2025 that due to funding shortages, they were forced to cut cash assistance to Syrian refugees from 830,000 to 500,000 starting in February 2025, reaching only 58 percent of the planned target, while emergency cash assistance for 162,000 conflict-affected Lebanese has been partially halted in April 2025 and will entirely stop by May if immediate funds are not received.