• Crisis Severity ?
    3.5
    0 Very low
    Very high 5
  • Impact ?
    3.2
    0 Very low
    Very high 5
  • Humanitarian Conditions ?
    4.1
    0 Very low
    Very high 5
  • Complexity ?
    2.6
    0 Very low
    Very high 5
  • Access Constraints ?
    2.0
    No constraints
    Extreme constraints
See all indicators

Special Reports

22/12/2022

Special Reports

25/08/2020

Overview

09/06/2022

Lebanon is facing a major socioeconomic crisis due to years of mounting public debt and a high fiscal deficit. The socioeconomic humanitarian crisis is driven by Lebanese pound devaluation, increased unemployment and poverty, business closures, inflation, limited access to foreign exchange and imports, and decreased foreign remittances. While the entire country has felt the economic hardship, the already poor and vulnerable Lebanese and refugee populations have been particularly affected ?.

An estimated 1.5 million members of the most vulnerable Lebanese populations, 1.5 million Syrian refugees, 180,000 Palestinian refugees from Lebanon, and 29,000 Palestinian refugees from Syria are considered vulnerable and in need of humanitarian assistance ?.  

Crisis conditions were further aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Beirut port explosion in August 2020 ?

The economic crisis has increased the poverty rate, which reached 82% in 2021, up from 45% in 2019, 30% in 2018, and 27.4% in 2011–2012. Vulnerable Lebanese households face challenges accessing food, healthcare, education, and other basic services. The unemployment rate reached 30% in 2022 – up from 11% in 2019.?

Latest Developments

25/01/2023

Teachers in Lebanon’s public schools launched an open-ended strike on 9 January over working conditions and pay, which has been drastically impacted by the Lebanese Lira losing 95% of its value since the economic crisis in 2019. Teachers have been struggling just to pay for transportation to get to school. Public schools have now closed, leaving around 470,000 children out of school in addition to more than 500,000 children who were already not attending school. The economic crisis that pushed 80% of the population into poverty has also been forcing families to reduce spending on education. An estimated 15% of families had already stopped sending their children to school. COVID-19 and the economic crisis had previously disrupted the education of  more than 1.3 million in 2020-2021. The lack of access to education is likely to cause serious implications on learning gains, human capital development in the country, and social and emotional wellbeing of the children. Children with disabilities and girls are among the most vulnerable and at the most risk of never going back to school.?

Humanitarian Access

19/12/2022

MODERATE CONSTRAINTS

Lebanon faced moderate humanitarian access constraints in the past six months, scoring 2/5 in ACAPS’ Humanitarian Access Index. The humanitarian access situation has improved from the last assessment, following a reasseement by ACAPS of some of the restrictions to importations.

For more information, you can consult our latest Global Humanitarian Access Overview – December 2022.

Number of riots and protests 2020, 2021, and 2022*

Source : ACLED - https://acleddata.com/data-export-tool/


Risk

Involuntary mass returns of Syrian refugees from Lebanon amid a current socioeconomic crisis put them in unsafe and inadequate living conditions Latest update: 18/10/2022

Probability

Highly unlikely Somewhat likely Highly likely

Impact

Very low Moderate Major

Key Priorities

03/03/2022

Food security: between March– April 2021, 22% of Lebanese households were food insecure. 47% faced challenges meeting their basic needs, compared to 43% in November-December 2020 ?.

Nutrition: Chronic and acute malnutrition rates have increased in 2021 across Lebanon. About 25% of Syrian, 11% of Lebanese, and 10.5% of Palestinian children suffer from chronic malnutrition (low height in relation to their ages). 41% of children and 42% of women of reproductive age are affected by anaemia. Poor access to nutrition services, inadequate food intake, and poor access to WASH and health services are the main drivers, affecting all population groups. ?

Livelihood/Poverty: Almost 90% of the Syrian refugee population lives at income levels below the Survival Minimum Expenditure Basket, and 80% of Lebanese were pushed to live in multidimensional poverty in 2021. Overall, the deteriorating economic conditions and weak governance are likely to further aggravate poverty in Lebanon, affecting all population groups. ?

Education: The socioeconomic crisis and COVID-19 have disrupted education for Lebanese and Syrian refugee children in Lebanon: only 43% of children enrolled in school in the year 2021/2022. About 30% of young people have stopped their education, and 40% have reduced spending on education to buy essential items. ?

WASH: Lebanon lacks a comprehensive solid waste management strategy and relies on costly landfills. The Beirut port explosion further damaged the waste management infrastructure. The inefficiency of waste management exposes the population to higher health and environmental risks ?.