HEAL - Humanitarian Emergency Assistance for Lebanon

finished

As of September 2024, the situation in Lebanon and particularly in southern Lebanon remains extremely tense, reaching a critical level with ongoing hostilities posing a serious threat to civilians. The vol­ atile situation along the Blue Line continues to affect nearly 150,000 people living within 10 kilometres of the border, who face daily shelling and airstrikes. As of August 2024, the ongoing hostilities have displaced 111,940 individuals from South Lebanon. Since the escalation of violence in October 2023, at least 133 civilians have been killed. The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) reports a total of 2,412 casualties since October 8, 2023, including 564 fa­ talities.

For those living in Lebanon, particularly in the South, this conflict is exacerbating an already dire situation. Since the Syrian civil war be­ gan in 2011, Lebanon has hosted the world's highest numberof dis­ placed people per capita. This, coupled with unprecedented eco­ nomic, political, social, and health crises in recent years, has had a devastating impact. A major political and econom ic crisis erupted in October 2019. The Beirut port explosion in August 2020 and the COVID-19 pandem ic further worsened the dire econom ic situation, leading to a surge in poverty.

The Lebanese Pound's continued de­ preciation (inflation reaching 222% in 2023). The unprecedented de­ terioration across all sectors, compounded byreduced humanitarian support, has created a humanitarian crisis for Lebanese, Syrian, and Palestinian communities.

Immediate assistance is essential to ensure their well-being and facilitate recovery efforts.

Caritas Switzerland is rapidly mobilizing emergency support to address the urgent needs of households in southern Lebanon by providing critical supplies and urgent humanitarian assis­ tance to vulnerable communities.

In response to the ongoing conflict, Caritas Switzerland, AMEL, and Caritas Lebanon will work to deliver emergency and transi­ tional aid to vulnerable internally displaced people and affected communities.The HEAL project aims to providing humanitarian assistance through Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance (MPCA) for basic needs, Emergency Cash Assistance (ECA), Winterization support and access to health and psychosocial support services to the affected communities by the conflict.

This modality will ensure timely delivery of most urgent relief assistance, while assessments to gauge further needs will re­ main ongoing. Caritas Switzerland and its partners will work together to ensure that assistance is tailored to individual requirements.