Save the Children

Lebanon After the Beirut Blast: How Your Support Helped to Fuel Our Humanitarian Response

The massive explosion that leveled the port of Beirut, Lebanon and damaged neighborhoods across the city on August 4 was shocking in its power – and the speed with which it immediately deepened crisis conditions in the country. Our teams based in Beirut and the surrounding area mobilized within hours to ensure that the countless children who were affected were not forgotten in the smoke and chaos. With the compassion and support, of donors like you we have been addressing food, shelter, education and child protection needs in and around shattered neighborhoods.

Health Protection: Our support for vulnerable and displaced families includes distributing essential hygiene items. We also provided infection prevention and control kits to the municipality of Beirut to replace materials lost after the explosion.

Food & Shelter: We provided 16,800 hot meals and distributed 2,100 shelter kits to help families weatherproof their damaged homes. In close collaboration with the Lebanese Red Cross, we worked to support minor repairs to damaged homes, distributing 4,640 debris removal equipment and protection kits - including goggles, helmets, etc. We are now allocating multi-purpose cash assistance so families can decide for themselves which supplies they require for their recovery.

Child Protection: During the initial aftermath, we followed up on the care of children separated from their families or unaccompanied by an adult to ensure that they were protected from harm. We are supporting 140 Child Friendly Spaces, which offer children a safe space to play and cope with the stress of their experiences, while following recommended international COVID-19 precaution guidelines. We are continuing to serve children overwhelmed by the event and the losses of homes and loved ones with psychological first aid to ease their stress and fears.

Families’ Long-time recovery: To improve food security and economic resilience for families, we have conducted 171 rapid needs assessments of damaged small businesses to provide small- to medium-size cash grants to help them reopen and restore much needed income.

Supporters like you are the reason Save the Children has been able to play a vital role in responding immediately to the needs of children and their families all over the world, wherever the need is greatest. Thank you so much!

• Full report: 3 month update, Beirut Explosion (PDF)