Lebanon: One in five children go to bed hungry, says UNICEF

In commemoration on Wednesday, UNICEF said that children go to bed hungry in at least one in five households. The same number of families also do not have enough drinking water.

“Children and youth in Lebanon are being asked to bear burdens that no child should bear,” he said UNICEF Lebanon’s representative Marcoluigi Corsi, highlighted the “profound psychological pressure” affecting around 770,000 young people.

“Without immediate and sustained action, these pressures will affect their lives for years to come,” he stressed.

It has been nearly six months since the April 17 ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel that sought to end hostilities between Lebanon-based Hezbollah fighters and the Israeli military, linked to the US-Iran war. Airstrikes and destruction of homes continued, UNICEF said.

Of the more than one million people who were displaced in the weeks following the escalation, nearly 330,000 have still not returned home, due to ongoing attacks and widespread destruction in southern Lebanon, “where Israel still occupies swaths of land”.

Deadly violence

In its latest update, the UN aid coordination office, Ochaalso reported continuing “airstrikes, shelling, destruction and military activity” across southern Lebanon, with limited humanitarian access and conditions making it impossible to return to the country safely and sustainably.

According to UNICEF’s latest report, Eternal Nightmaree, about one in three families surveyed said their children were not getting necessary health services, mainly because they could not afford them.

As many as 14 percent said at least one child worked, double the proportion recorded in January 2025.

This conflict also caused many casualties. Since March 2, 2026, at least 261 children have been killed and 1,056 people have been injured, an average of seven children killed or injured every day for six months. An estimated 12 percent of injured children now live with disabilities, demonstrating the long-term impact the conflict has had on them.

Education has been severely disrupted, UNICEF said 436 schools were damaged or destroyed, leaving around 100,000 children at risk of losing access to classrooms. A total of 86 other teachers were killed or injured.

I need mental health support and a safe space where I can talk openly about my concerns and get the support I need – Young women’s stories from UNICEF report

There is no money for education

Financial pressures also forced families to cut education spending, with 46 percent reporting reduced spending and 17 percent saying their children had stopped attending school. Among those still in school, 29 percent were unable to learn as expected, often due to difficulty concentrating and emotional stress.

The psychological impact of this crisis is equally worrying. An estimated 770,000 children have experienced psychological distress over the past six months. More than half of households reported a decline in their children’s emotional well-being, while 63 percent said their children felt anxious or nervous.

Young people also face diminishing prospects. UNICEF’s initial assessment this year found that only 22 percent of those aged 18 to 25 were attending school or university, largely because of financial constraints. At the time the survey was conducted, 67 percent were unemployed.

We left the southern suburbs (Beirut). The sounds affected my child so much that when I brought him a beautiful, colorful toy that made sounds, he became scared and cried a lot – Mother of a seven-month-old baby in UNICEF report

UNICEF has stepped up its humanitarian response since January 2026, treating injured children, delivering supplies to shelters and medical facilities, and assisting displaced families. The agency also seeks to maintain national systems and services for children.

“Without immediate and sustained action, an entire generation of children and youth is at risk of carrying the impacts of this crisis into adulthood,” Corsi said.

UNICEF stressed that the conflict has exacerbated the damage and suffering caused by the most recent period of fighting in 2023-2024 and the social and economic crisis that has been ongoing since late 2019. Currently, 83 percent of displaced families say they do not know when they will be able to return to their homes, underscoring the magnitude of the rebuilding challenge.

“Lebanon’s recovery depends on protecting today’s children and upholding their rights to the health services, education, protection and opportunities they need to build their future,” the agency stressed.