Emergency Response in South Lebanon
UNICEF is providing critical aid and support due the situation in South Lebanon
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In southern Lebanon, vulnerabilities have been exacerbated by the hostilities, which led to the internal displacement of 82,012 people, including 37% of whom are children (IOM DTM Round 19). The immediate needs of displaced families, especially those in collective shelters, have been identified as non-food items, hygiene kits (including dignity kits), cash, food, water, diapers for infants, and medicine. In some cases, families left their home without having time to pack enough belongings for their children, such as clothes and learning materials.
To respond to the current crisis, UNICEF’s scaled-up its programmes response to include the following:
Education
With the support of the Ministry of Education, more than 10,000 internally displaced children in the South and Nabatiyeh governorate have been referred and enrolled in public and private schools close to their residence.
Key Initiatives:
- UNICEF and The Ministery of Education are identifying ten additional schools hubs to ensure the continuity of learning for all children. Provide transportation allowance to 581 displaced children in the south to help them re-enrol and consistently attend public schools.
- 184 children between the ages of three to 14 living in the four shelters in Tyre are now continuing their education.
- Distributed UNICEF’s school-in-a-box (SIB) kits to support all displaced students. Reached 1,523 displaced children in 15 centres with different services such as retention support, psychosocial support, early childhood development, youth programmes, and recreational activities.
- Established Digital learning hubs across eight Makani centres in Nabatiyeh and Tyre to support learning continuity through a remote learning modality where required.
- A total of 120 tablets have been distributed with a reliable internet connection, and an IT focal point has been assigned to eight Makani centres in Nabatiyeh and Tyre to assist students in accessing the information they require while ensuring their safety.
- Based on findings from the re-assessment of the existing four shelters and the two new shelters in Tyre and Sahel Zahrani, 70 displaced children have been referred to nearby schools to continue their education.
Health
UNICEF continued to receive emergency health preparedness supplies in-country to ensure the wellbeing of up to 100,000 people.
Key Initiatives:
- Contracted 20 primary health care centers situated in affected areas hosting a high number of internally displaced persons to provide mobile primary healthcare services at the community level.
- Provided community-based midwifery services to displaced pregnant women outside of the collective shelters.
- Vaccinated 1,733 children through PHCs and two Mobile Vaccination Units (MVUs) deployed in affected areas as well as through its integrated approach with PHCs to deliver services in affected areas.
- Provide basic health messages to 1,024 newborns, 1,440children, 725 adolescents, and 1,019 pregnant and lactating women (PLW) and refer them to the near Primary Healthcare Center to ensure their health needs were met.
- Transported Emergency kits procured by UNICEF, including obstetric midwifery and first aid kits containing medications and medical supplies, to the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) warehouses and distributed to four governmental and four private hospitals.
Nutrition
UNICEF continued providing lifesaving nutrition and child development services, and supplies addressing the immediate nutritional and child developmental needs of the most vulnerable children and women in South.
Key Initiatives:
- Purchased and shipped to Lebanon the essential nutrition supplies to cover the immediate needs of over 50,000 children and women.
- Screened 1,292 children between the ages of 6-59 months and pregnant and lactating women in South, Nabatiyeh, and Bekaa governorates living in shelters and in host communities for malnutrition, leading to the identification of 17 children and 19 PLWs with acute malnutrition.
- 1,820 children between the ages of six to 59 months received micronutrient supplements to prevent micronutrient deficiencies affecting their growth and cognitive development.
- Provided Nutrition and children development counselling sessions to 26,298 caregivers of children under the age of five in shelters and host communities.
- Provided emergency nutrition rations through Mother Baby Corners established in shelters to ensure they maintain nutritious diets to 225 children between the ages of six to 59 months.
Child Protection
UNICEF is currently mobilizing its partners to expand the emergency response beyond internally displaced persons shelters to reach affected populations in host families and those living in border areas.
Key Initiatives:
- Delivered specialised case management services to 79children (40girls and 39 boys) including six children (3 girls and 3 boys) with disabilities and three children (2 girls and 1 boy) registered as separated from their primary caregiver.
- Distributed 360 Laha ("Dignity" in Arabic) were distributed.
- 51 beneficiaries (25 women and 26 girls) accessed the two safe spaces.
- Delivered Psychosocial Psychological first aid (PFA) services to 491 beneficiaries.
- Provided 19 community-based psychosocial support sessions to 238 children.
- Delivered 15 Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE) sessions to 450 beneficiaries in the IDP.
Adolescent and Youth Development
Due to TVET school closures, UNICEF is supporting the TVET Directorate in designing their education emergency plan which ensures the seamless continuation of TVET learning through the implementation of the Learning Passport, a flexible digital learning programme.
Key Initiatives:
- Identified ten TVET centres to be used as emergency response centres.
- Working with partners to establish youth groups under the Nahno Volunteers (“We are Volunteers” in Arabic) programme within the shelters.
- Providing comprehensive trainings on emergency preparedness through this programme.
- Employed 120 vulnerable youth to produce more than 8,000winter clothing kits for children and youth.
- Distributed 2,801 winter kits across shelters in South, Tyre, and Nabatiyeh governorates.
- Distributed additional 127 winter kits in the Baalbek governorate to assist the recently displaced population.
- Distributed 429 winter kits tailored for displaced adolescents aged 14 to 24 years old in the Beqaa governorate.
- Supported 352 adolescents with sports for wellbeing and psychosocial support services, including 17 adolescents with disabilities.
Social Protection
On December 15, UNICEF, in coordination with the Ministry of Social Affairs and ILO, provided 3,613 children and youth with disabilities residing in southern Lebanon with US $100 in emergency cash assistance to help alleviate the extra costs inflicted by the border conflict. UNICEF is also continuing its close coordination with the Basic Assistance Working Group, including WFP and UNHCR, to support the emergency response for families that are impacted by the conflict.
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
We ensured access to hygiene and water for displaced communities in South Lebanon.
Key Initiatives:
- Prepositioned 100,000 liters of fuel at the South Water Establishment in Nabatiyeh governorate, out of which 36,750 litres to 29 water stations, supporting 99,530 individuals with improved access to safe drinking water.
- Provided the South Water Establishment 750kg of gas chlorine and 1,530kg of powder chlorine to Saida station.
- Supported with emergency repairs across three wells to improve water provision for 18,000 beneficiaries in Nabatiyeh.
- Supported with emergency repairs across Ras el Ain water station in Tyre to improve water provision for up to 76,000 individuals.
- Provided 3,424 hygiene kits, reaching up to 17,120 internally displaced persons and 4,351 disinfection kits, reaching up to 17,404 internally displaced persons in shelters.
- Provided the designated shelters with 55,000 litres of emergency water trucking, which has supported up to 1,620 people.
Tweets from UNICEF Lebanon