The ICRC has been bringing humanitarian aid to the people of Lebanon since 1967. We were active throughout the civil war and other periods of conflict and violence. Our current focus is on helping those fleeing the fighting in Syria and Iraq, and the communities that are supporting them. At the same time, we are continuing our pre-existing activities, such as finding out what happened to people who went missing during the civil war.
Helping people fleeing fighting in the region
We are currently stepping up our activities in response to the flood of people arriving in the country in search of a safe haven from fighting in Syria and Iraq. This includes providing water and sanitation facilities, food, other emergency supplies and health care, and running cash assistance programmes.
Finding out what happened to people missing since the civil war
The ICRC is working closely with the Lebanese authorities and with associations of families of missing persons to determine the fate of people who went missing during the 1975-1990 civil war.
Other activities
- Promoting compliance with international humanitarian law by arms bearers.
- Visiting detainees.
- Helping separated families – especially foreign detainees and refugees – keep in touch through Red Cross messages containing family news, and 'Salamaat' (brief 'safe and well' messages transmitted orally).
- Working closely with the Lebanese Red Cross, which plays a vital role in the implementation of our programmes across Lebanon.
How did the ICRC help people affected by conflict in Lebanon during 2014?
Water and infrastructure
The ICRC:
- completed 16 projects that ensured better access to water and improved living conditions in settlements, covering a total population of over 380,000, including host communities;
- cooperated with the Lebanese Red Cross on water, sanitation and hygiene projects that improved living conditions in informal settlements in northern Lebanon and the Bekaa region.
Missing persons
The ICRC conducted 489 interviews as part of efforts to clarify the fate of people still missing from the Lebanese civil war. This information will be compared with that obtained from human remains. The 2014 interviews brought to over 1,700 the number conducted since the data collection project started in 2012. Several public campaigns took place in support of families' right to know what has happened to their missing relatives and to encourage the creation of appropriate legal frameworks and a national independent commission on missing persons. Detainee welfare
The ICRC visited some 6,500 detainees in 29 places of detention. 6,200 detainees received supplies such as mattresses, clothes, blankets, hygiene kits and cleaning materials.
Health
The ICRC:
- donated medical supplies that made it possible to treat over 6,200 patients, of whom at least 1,400 had suffered weapon wounds;
- carried out over 140,000 outpatient consultations in Arsal, a town on the border with Syria;
provided surgical care and rehabilitation services to over 80 weapon-wounded patients at our Weapon Traumatology Training Centre (WTTC) in Tripoli;
- provided funding to enable the treatment of more than 350 critically wounded Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian patients in Lebanese hospitals;
- provided crutches, wheelchairs and other mobility aids for 100 patients;
- conducted first-aid training for 60 members of the Lebanese armed forces, 200 Palestinian weapon-bearers and 30 Syrian civilians, and provided them with basic medical kits and equipment;
- supplied three primary health-care centres with drugs, medical consumables and equipment, and trained their staff, benefiting more than 100,000 patients;
- trained 38 surgeons in emergency room trauma care, of whom 16 were from Arsal and 22 from Nabatieh in southern Lebanon;
- donated medical equipment and two generators to the Islamic Health Services in southern Lebanon;
provided financial assistance that made it possible to fully equip an operating theatre at a hospital in Nabatieh.
Emergency aid
The ICRC:
- worked with the Lebanese Red Cross to provide food for over 14,500 people (Lebanese host families, internally displaced persons and other people fleeing conflict such as Palestinians, Iraqis and Syrians), while 9,900 people received such essential household items as tarpaulins, hygiene supplies, blankets, mattresses, kitchen sets and jerrycans;
- responded to flooding in Tripoli by providing mattresses, blankets and hygiene kits for 1,700 - Palestinians living in Nahr El Bared camp;
- provided one hot meal a day for 350 people.
- Cash assistance and support for income-generating activities
The ICRC:
- provided cash assistance for over 14,200 Syrians and Palestinians who had fled the conflict in Syria, to cover their needs for five months over the winter;
- set up a six-month cash assistance programme for 950 Lebanese returnees;
- enrolled 150 heads of households living in parts of Tripoli affected by urban violence in a cash-for-work programme, ensuring that they have an income for five months;
- worked through women's cooperatives to provide financial support to 45 vulnerable female heads of household living in the North Bekaa region, allowing them to start generating an income for their families.