The Lebanese economic crisis is severely impacting the lives of children in Lebanon, with many forced to skip meals as a result, UNICEF revealed in a new survey.
The survey, the results of which were published on Thursday, indicated that more children than ever before, over 30% of them, are going to bed hungry.
It also revealed that 30% of children are not receiving the primary health care they need. In this regard, 76% of households said that they are affected by the soaring medicine prices.
Child labor has become more widespread as a result of the difficult situation, with one in ten children being sent to work by their families, and 15% of families pulling their children out of school and stopping their education, according to the survey.
UNICEF’s assessment also found that 40% of children are from families where no one has a job and 77% come from families that receive no social support.
Children ‘Bearing the Brunt’ of the Crisis
When it comes to children who are still studying, 80% of parents and caregivers said that their children were finding it difficult to concentrate on their studies at home, “which might indicate hunger or mental distress.”
Apart from that, 77% of households don’t have enough food or enough money to buy food, the number climbing to 99% in the case of Syrian refugees, the survey results showed.
Additionally, 60% of households are now forced to resort to debt in order to buy food.
“The World Bank has described what is happening in Lebanon as possibly one of the top three economic collapses seen since the mid 19th Century,” UNICEF Representative in Lebanon Yukie Mokuo was quoted as noting in the survey report.
“What the UNICEF survey shows is that children are bearing the brunt of this escalating catastrophe.”
In light of these findings, UNICEF has reaffirmed its call to the Lebanese authorities to implement social protection measures, in order to facilitate children’s access to quality education and to strengthen “both primary healthcare and child protection services.”
