Today's Edition
HANI ABDELBAQI (BEIRUT)
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced on Wednesday that the overlapping and severe crises in Lebanon continue to worsen, increasingly depriving children of education and forcing many of them to work.
UNICEF added in a report that children in Lebanon are facing an increasing deterioration in most aspects of their lives, in addition to an increase in psychological burdens, especially in southern Lebanon, which is affected by conflict.
The organisation explained that 26% of families reported that their school-aged children have not been attending school since last October due to the closure of numerous schools in southern Lebanon. Additionally, eight out of 10 families are cutting back on healthcare spending, further endangering children’s wellbeing. Another alarming statistic is the increase in the number of families sending children under the age of 18 to work, rising from 11% in April to 16%.
To address these challenges, UNICEF has launched a crisis response programme aimed at supporting over 1,070 public schools in Lebanon and facilitating the enrollment of more than 400,000 children. Additionally, they will provide assistance to more than 190,000 Lebanese and Syrian refugee children in public schools, ensuring access to vaccination services for over 600,000 children across Lebanon.
UNICEF’s efforts extend to nutrition services, early childhood development, and support for more than 270,000 children and caregivers, alongside other essential social, health, legal, and vocational services.
UNICEF called on the Lebanese government to show a clear commitment to the terms of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and take decisive action to support and protect all Lebanese children in Lebanon, ensuring they have access to basic services.
Moreover, the organisation called for doubling efforts to ensure that every child goes to school and remains protected from physical and psychological harm.
Lebanon suffers from multiple political and economic crises, the latest being the vacancy of the presidential position following the end of the actual presidential term of the former president, General Michel Aoun, on October 31 last year. The parliament failed to elect a new president over 12 sessions.
The vacancy of the presidential position has cast a shadow over many crises the country faces, causing controversy over the current government’s powers and its nature as a caretaker government.
Lebanon is seeking solutions to emerge from its financial, economic, and monetary crises, including approaching the International Monetary Fund for a financial loan and the possibility of floating the local currency.
Lebanon has been experiencing the worst financial and economic crisis in its history for more than four years, resulting in a decrease in the purchasing power of the citizens, an increase in poverty and unemployment rates, and a sharp collapse of the national currency against the dollar.
