UNICEF sounds alarm over 'severe food poverty' among young children in Lebanon

More than one in two children under the age of two are suffering "severe food poverty" in east Lebanon after the war between Israel and Hezbollah, the United Nations children's agency said on Friday.

A ceasefire came into effect on November 27, putting an end to more than a year of fighting, including two months of full-blown war between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese group.

But the war destroyed large swathes of the country, particularly in the south and in the Bekaa Valley in the east, and more than 100,000 people are still displaced, according to the International Organization for Migration.

"In Baalbek-Hermel, more than half (51 per cent) of children under two years of age are experiencing severe food poverty," UNICEF said in a statement.

"In Bekaa, the rate was 45 per cent, a dramatic increase from 28 per cent in 2023," it added, defining severe food poverty as the consumption of two items or less out of the eight key food groups.

"The war has taken a shocking toll on children, affecting almost every aspect of their lives," said UNICEF's representative in Lebanon, Akhil Iyer.

The agency said older children were also impacted, saying 49 percent of those under 18 in the Bekaa area and 34 percent of those in the Baalbek-Hermel area "either had not eaten or had had only one meal on the day prior to the survey being conducted".

The survey, conducted in January, found that "72 per cent of caregivers said their children were anxious or nervous during the war, and 62 per cent said they were depressed or sad".

Lebanon has been gripped by economic crisis since 2019, which has been aggravated by the war.

The country, which recently appointed a president and prime minister after a two-year power vacuum, has set up a reconstruction fund, relying largely on foreign aid.