Why we need to talk about Lebanon

What's happening in Lebanon?

Lebanon is facing multiple shocks and long-standing challenges, including economic freefall, hyperinflation, political deadlock, and continuing impact of the 2020 Beirut blast, COVID-19, and the fact that it is home to a large number of Syrian and Palestinian refugees. 

Rising prices and widespread unemployment have put 74% of families into extreme poverty, leading some families to resort to child marriage. We’re also seeing a rise in the worst forms of child labour, such as drug trafficking, scrap metal production and recruitment to armed groups.  

Home environments are often stressful, with increases in domestic violence reported. We run programmes aimed at supporting parents and care givers with their mental health and psychosocial support.  

As our CEO, Gwen Hines, shared in her blog earlier this year: “As parents, we try to protect our children, but the groups of children I spoke to across the country were all too aware of their parents’ stress. They knew not to ask for new clothes or toys. They wanted to help, and several had dropped out of school to work 10-12 hour shifts in shops or sell tissues in heavy traffic for pittance. 

The children I spoke to in Bourj al Burajne camp near Beirut told me they were too scared to leave their homes, except to come to the community centre we were sitting in. They told me about friends killed by the live electric cables dangling at head height in the rain, injured in gun fights that were nothing to do with them, or harassed by drug dealers. In a different community near Tripoli, children told me about friends who’d disappeared, having been lured into vans. What our teams are seeing suggests these problems are increasing as the economy shrinks.”         

There’s also a crisis in children’s education , with more than 10% of Lebanese children and 60% of Syrian children out of school. Many of these children will never have seen the inside of a classroom.   Learning disruption due to teacher strikes and resulting learning losses  are so severe that the Country Office and our education partners are calling this a real emergency requiring immediate action.

More than 1.4 million people are experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity, meaning 3 out of 4 children under the age of five are living in food poverty, and Lebanon is one of the focus countries for our global hunger campaign.  

On top of this, Save the Children’s ability to support children is at risk as we face the end of a large EU programme and reduced funding in 2024, with competing regional and global crises and lack of governmental will to engage with the reform process, leading to donor fatigue. 

Despite all of this, I see many reasons for hope.
 

First of all, our team and partners in Lebanon are incredible. I had the privilege of meeting with one of our fantastic local partners, Al Fayhaa Association, helping me really understand what “shifting the power” means in action. 

I asked how Save the Children was viewed to our partners and our staff. I was told there’s a high degree of community acceptance because we’ve worked in the country for so long, and a trust and appreciation in our expertise – such as school policies for example.  

Ibrahim from Al Fayhaa Association, who we have worked with for the past five years told me Save the Children “never give us one-way communications or directives, we are partners working through how to find solutions together”.  

I was also impressed to see our child voice and accountability work at the centre of everything we do. This includes making sure children are influencing decision makers and their own futures on everything from education, protection, livelihoods, and the environment and climate – for example, waste management inside Palestinian Refugee Camps, and reorganising electric wires away from residential buildings, schools and clinics. Last year we set up our first Children and Youth Advisory Committee, with 18 elected members aged 12-17. 

Secondly, it gave me a real appreciation for the work we do to drive flexible income for children. More flexible funding means we can take a child-centred approach, for example referring children where we have protection concerns who may have come through a cash-based assistance programme, or helping identify children at risk of dropping out of school. 

Thirdly and most importantly: I saw joy. We visited a children’s choir, Fayha National Choir, with the Maestro Barkev Taslakian. There were 30 children confidently singing a mix of French and Arabic songs. During the break several of the children came to greet us, so proud of the work they were doing and the sense of belonging; their faces lit up with joy and excitement. 

Our team knows what it takes to address this crisis: reaching children and their families in their communities, working with partners and community organisations to keep kids connected to learning, to support their families with livelihoods programming, and to support their communities to continue essential services for children.