Amid the intensified armed conflict in Lebanon, women and girls are enduring unimaginable suffering. They need urgent shelter, winterization items, nutritious food, as well as water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services, to be protected from gender-based violence, and have their rights and dignity guaranteed.

The latest UN Secretary-General’s Report on Women, Peace and Security reveals that the proportion of women killed in conflicts around the world doubled last year, with women now accounting for 40 per cent of all those killed in war zones.

In Lebanon, the war has impacted civilians, both men and women alike, yet women and girls disproportionately suffer from the consequences of it due to their different status in society and discriminatory social norms, which make them more prone to sexual and gender-based violence and places a heavy burden on them for unpaid care and domestic work. This burden has grown due to children being out of school or requiring remote learning, performing domestic chores in shelters in the absence of adequate WASH facilities for bathing or laundry, coupled with managing the emotional trauma of their children from the bombings.

“Women and girls must be protected; the services they rely on must be safeguarded; and their leadership in humanitarian and peacebuilding interventions must be recognized and supported,” said UN Women Lebanon Representative Gielan Elmessiri.

Women also make up a higher proportion of the ever-growing number of internally displaced persons (IDPs). According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Displacement Tracking Matrix, as of 24 October 2024, 52 per cent of the 833,391 IDPs recorded in Lebanon are women and girls. UN Women estimates that this is close to 240,000 families, more than 50,000 of which are women-headed, augmenting their pre-conflict vulnerabilities to food insecurity, meagre livelihoods and low labour force participation.

Insights from consultations reveal that certain groups of women – such as women heads of households, widows, women with disabilities, migrant domestic workers and older women – face heightened risks and need targeted humanitarian support. For example, for many new widows, the loss of their husbands due to the ongoing armed conflict has been an incredibly painful experience that is compounded by the challenges they face in meeting their basic needs and that of their children while preserving their dignity. They’ve expressed fears of being evicted from their homes (when they can return), denied their inheritance or pushed into unwanted marriages.

Their protection is paramount. As such, UN Women is targeting these groups of women in its assistance, in partnership with over 25 local women-led and women’s rights organizations. Together, UN Women and its local partners are providing emergency cash for women at risk and delivering winterization items, dignity kits and cooked meals through community kitchens in addition to mental health and psychosocial support to women and their family members. UN Women ensures accountability to the affected women and girls by maintaining two-way communication channels that enable feedback and complaint mechanisms. UN Women is also working closely with its network of 442 women peacebuilders across the country on promoting the nexus between conflict-sensitive humanitarian relief and enhanced peacebuilding and social cohesion in collective shelters and in host communities.

Despite facing significant challenges, such as destruction of their offices, safety risks and reduced funding, local women-led and women’s rights organizations are at the forefront of the humanitarian response and are actively engaged in delivering life-saving aid to displaced individuals. It is essential to provide financial support to ensure that they can sustain their vital humanitarian efforts and enhance the representation of women in decision-making forums.

UN Women draws attention to the urgent need for the humanitarian community to uphold the rights of women and girls affected by the ongoing humanitarian crises, and target assistance to those most at risk to meet their needs and priorities equitably. This targeting should be based on rapid gender analysis, including the collection of sex-, age- and disability-disaggregated data to understand the evolving situation.

Photo: 

Dhayra, Lebanon. November 27, 2023, Norma Abu Sari walks through her destroyed house in the Lebanese border village. Photo: UNICEF/UNI561664