UNICEF Is Ringing the Alarm Bell: Children in Lebanon Are at Risk
The Diakonia Department in Beirut Supports Refugee Children Psychologically
According to a UNICEF report, Lebanon has significantly lost its progress towards achieving children’s basic rights, especially their right to health, education, protection, play and entertainment. The report issued in August 2022, based on a UNICEF study on child poverty and a child-focused rapid assessment (CFRA), mentioned that reasons are due to the economic crisis and the outbreak of the Covid pandemic. As well as, the report noted that children in Lebanon are witnessing the crises’ repercussions on their lives, so they lost their hopes in a better future and even in their dreams. Children are thus suffering from mental health problems as they are not receiving the necessary care.
Hence, the Service and Relief – Diakonia Department, Beirut’s Office, of the Middle East Council of Churches, continues its Strong Kids / Strong Emotions (SKSE) program. It implemented, last August, 4 out of 12 sessions, for a group of refugee Iraqi and Syrian kids, at Our Lady Dispensary, affiliated to MECC and located in Sabtiyeh – Lebanon.
It is a play-based Trauma Resiliency program which teaches the six core skills of the Community Resiliency Model (CRM): Tracking, Resourcing, Grounding, Help-Now, Gesturing, and Shift-and-Stay. The sessions aimed to accompany the children psychologically supporting them and developing their capacities, especially in coping with their environment and overcoming their difficulties. These sessions also included various activities, games, crafts and story-telling, in order to develop the participants’ skills and build their self-confidence, as they have an important role in societies.
In the same context, UNICEF report revealed that 84% of families are financially unable to secure their basic needs. 38% of households were forced to reduce expenses on education, compared with 26% in April 2021. As well as, 60% of families reduced spending on health treatment, up from 42% in April 2022. Noting that 36% of caregivers have become less tolerant of their children, so they are treating them more harshly.
