Today's Edition
Ahmed Murad (Beirut, Cairo) - The humanitarian crisis in Lebanon is worsening, as the country faces its second year of the presidential vacuum, followed by severe social and economic repercussions. This includes the growing rates of food insecurity that affect thousands of Lebanese, especially children.
Lebanon’s Minister of Health, Dr. Firas Abiad, and the UNICEF representative in Lebanon, Edouard Beigbeder, stressed that the children suffer from hunger and food insecurity. A nutrition survey showed that 3 out of 4 children under the age of five suffer from food poverty, making them highly susceptible to growth stunts and severe weight loss.
Lebanese political analyst Youssef Diab noted that children in Lebanon are among the most affected by Lebanon’s political, social, and economic crises, caused by the presidential vacuum, which is considered to be “the mother of all crises” in Lebanon.
No solution to any crisis is possible before electing a new president and forming a national salvation government capable of implementing the necessary reforms. Lebanon entered the presidential vacuum on November 1, 2022. The parliament attempted to elect a new president through 12 sessions, all of which failed to achieve the goal. The country is currently managed by a caretaker government incapable of making the necessary decisions, particularly regarding implementing important political, economic, and monetary reforms.
The Lebanese political analyst told Aletihad that millions of Lebanese people and Syrian refugees residing in Lebanon find it extremely difficult to provide basic necessities, including food, especially with the big rise in food prices that exceeds the purchasing power of most Lebanese families, signalling an increasing crisis of food insecurity.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WPF) have classified Lebanon as one of the world’s hunger hotspots, with more than half of the population needing assistance to cover their food and other basic needs.
Families are increasingly struggling to afford food and are forced to resort to harmful coping strategies to adapt to the situation. Lebanon ranked first in the global ranking for food price inflation, with a 261% increase in prices between February 2022 and February 2023, and recorded the highest rate of food price inflation globally in May, estimated at around 352%.
Lebanese writer and economic analyst Maysa Abdul Khaliq explained that the political stagnation Lebanon is experiencing has led to a complex crisis classified by international institutions as one of the ten worst financial and economic crises in the world.
It is noteworthy that the poverty rate among the Lebanese has exceeded 82%. Therefore, thousands of children and families are facing food poverty, while millions are in urgent need of humanitarian aid, as revealed by United Nations reports. Imran Riza, the United Nations Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs in Beirut, recently disclosed that approximately 4 million people in Lebanon urgently need food and other humanitarian aid.
The Lebanese writer told Aletihad that the only solution is for the Lebanese factions to put aside their differences, agree on a new president, and thereafter form a national government. Only then can Lebanon start implementing a comprehensive reform programme that puts things back on the right track.
