A year after the devastating Beirut port explosion, one in three families in Lebanon have children still showing signs of trauma, the UN agency for children, UNICEF, said Tuesday.
"One in three families (34 percent) has children still showing signs of psychological distress," UNICEF said, citing a July survey of 1,200 families.
"In the case of adults, the figure reaches almost one in two (45.6 percent)," it added in a report published on the eve of the blast's first anniversary.
UNICEF's representative in Lebanon Yukie Mokuo said that a year after “the tragic events, children's lives remain deeply affected.”
The August 4 explosion killed more than 200 people, wounded at least 6,500 others and damaged swathes of Beirut.
In the year since, Lebanon has also had to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic and a spiraling economic crisis.
“Families have been struggling to recover from the aftermath of the explosions at the worst possible time - in the middle of a devastating economic crisis and a major pandemic," Mokuo said.
A UNICEF survey in July found that almost all families that requested assistance in the wake of the Beirut port blast still need help, especially cash and food assistance, the agency said.
Many who lost their jobs because of the blast have yet to find work, UNICEF added, as Lebanon grapples with soaring poverty, rampant inflation and shortages of basic items from medicine to fuel.
"Children's lives are at risk as the escalating crisis is leaving most families unable to afford their basic needs," Mokuo said.
Ted Chaiban, UNICEF regional director in the Middle East and North Africa, said that since the Aug. 4 blast, “Lebanon has been in free fall struggling with a triple crisis: economic, political and the COVID-19 pandemic. This is threatening to leave almost every child in Lebanon vulnerable and in need.”
"If change, recovery and accountability don’t happen now they might not happen at all, taking the country further into the abyss and a place of no return.”
UNICEF called for action, beginning with making children in Lebanon a top priority, and ensuring their basic rights are respected.
It also urged Lebanese leaders to overcome their political differences and form a government centered on putting the country on the path to recovery.
“Authorities are further encouraged to provide justice for the families affected by the blast, and hold those responsible accountable,” it added.
