[IMPORTANT] Rapid and Significant Deterioration of Humanitarian Situation in Lebanon: 370,000 Children Displaced, 20% of Population Displaced Since Escalation of Conflict [Press Release]

10-year-old Amir plays with toys provided by UNICEF at a school serving as a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, March 17, 2026. © UNICEF/UNI964784/Choufany

[March 27, 2026, Beirut (Lebanon)] Marco Luigi Corsi, UNICEF Lebanon Representative, participated online from Beirut in the regular UN press briefing held in Geneva on March 27 and reported on the dire situation of children in Lebanon as follows:

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In just three weeks, over 370,000 children in Lebanon have been forced to flee their homes. This translates to at least 19,000 children being displaced every day. To put this scale into perspective, it's like hundreds of school buses, filled with children desperately trying to escape, departing every single day.

In less than a month, approximately 20% of Lebanon's population has been forced to displace. The speed and scale are astonishing. Currently, over 1 million people across the country have been displaced, many having been forced to move two, three, or even four times. This is a sudden, chaotic, and large-scale displacement that tears families apart and hollows out communities. The impact will be long-lasting, even after the violence subsides.

Jihad, father of 6-year-old Jawad (left) and 7-year-old Youssef (right), embraces his children at a school serving as a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, March 17, 2026. © UNICEF/UNI964793/Choufany

Children in Lebanon are suffering immeasurable psychological trauma. Without any time to heal from the trauma of the previous escalation of conflict, children are once again being displaced by violence. The relentless cycle of bombings and displacement is exacerbating their psychological wounds, instilling deep fear, and posing a risk of severe long-term emotional impact.

Zeinab, an 11-year-old girl we met at a shelter in a school building in Beirut, fled from southern Beirut with her family. This was the same school building where she had been displaced 18 months ago. She said she never imagined she would have to go through days of listening to shelling and bombing almost every night, with so many people sleeping around her, again. All she wishes for is to return home, return to school, and regain a normal life.

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