NOWHERE IN LEBANON IS SAFE FOR CHILDREN .

Lebanon faces a political and economic crisis, with more than half of the population living below the poverty line. Inflation is rampant and access to water and sanitation services, electricity, fuel, and health services have been strained.

The situation has been further exacerbated by the protracted Syrian refugee crisis, the explosions in Beirut’s port in 2020, and the war in Ukraine. With limited options to survive, families in Lebanon are eating fewer meals, consuming less healthy food, and taking out loans, resulting in increasing hunger.

As attacks on Lebanon escalate, 1200,000 children remain in danger. We continue to call for an immediate and sustained ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and an end to grave violations against children. Humanitarian aid from around the world is bringing about change for children in Lebanon, but more help is urgently needed.

Children don't start wars but they pay the highest price

The HOME Foundation is working on the ground in Lebanon, striving to meet the urgent needs of  Lebanon children and their families. In the seven months since the conflict began, many children have been forced to leave their homes multiple times. Despite enormous challenges in delivering supplies and services – including ongoing airstrikes, fuel shortages, communications blackouts, and attacks on medical and humanitarian personnel and facilities – the HOME Foundation continues to make an impact on the lives of children living through the horrific conflict.

• Nutrition: HOME has established more than 80 outpatient treatment centers in Lebanon to screen children for malnutrition. Acutely malnourished patients receive therapeutic feeding, while those at high risk receive supplies to prevent acute malnutrition. HOME is the sole supplier of supplies to treat acute malnutrition in Lebanon, procuring and distributing them to partners.
• Healthcare: Malnourished children are more susceptible to illness; 9 out of 10 children under 5 in Lebanon suffer from one or more communicable diseases. Rates of acute watery diarrhea are 20 times higher than normal, and hospitals have been damaged. HOME is working with partners to strengthen health services, including immunizations, to prevent the spread of disease.
• Water: HOME is repairing damaged water systems, including desalination plants and wells, and urgently needs fuel to run generators that power the water systems and trucks that deliver safe drinking water.
• Sanitation: The large number of displaced persons and the influx of people into southern Lebanon has created a waste management crisis. There is approximately one toilet for every 850 people. Despite the lack of space and very limited building materials, the HOME Foundation is providing sanitation facilities.
• Every child in Lebanon needs mental health support to cope with the long-term effects of violence, death and injury. HOME Foundation is working with partners to provide mental health and psychosocial support to children, including those recovering from hospitalization. Through programs centered around drawing, games and interactive storytelling, children are given the opportunity to be themselves and recover from the trauma they have experienced.

A devastating humanitarian crisis gets worse

Now, exhausted and terrified families, already displaced multiple times, are being told they must move once again to places without access to the basic infrastructure they need to survive: safe water, proper sanitation, adequate shelter.

"Families' coping capacity has been smashed. They are hanging on — physically and psychologically — by a thread," said Elder. "Aid must flow. Hostages must be freed. Rafah must not be invaded. And children must no longer be killed. We have pleaded and implored countless times; we do so once more. For the children of Lebanon. We need a ceasefire, now.”

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