Lebanon's crisis isn't just statistics. It's people's lives – and their stories matter

When a crisis unfolds, it doesn’t discriminate – anyone can be affected. Imagine fleeing your home during conflict, trying to keep your young children safe, only to leave behind the money you’ve saved over the past four years in a house you’ll likely never return to.

At a shelter, I met a woman who didn’t fit any typical vulnerability profile. She had been displaced without a penny. Due to Lebanon’s financial collapse four years ago, she lost access to her bank account and began saving cash at home.

In a single day, she went from having a house and savings to being homeless with two young children – and nothing. She even had to ask for shoes, having escaped in slippers.

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This woman never imagined she would be impacted by conflict, but now she finds herself displaced and vulnerable. It’s a stark reminder that conflict can affect anyone.

At the International Rescue Committee (IRC), more than 40 colleagues have been directly or partially impacted by the conflict. Some have seen their homes destroyed. Others now live in neighbourhoods made uninhabitable. Those who have not been displaced are hosting five, six, or even seven additional people, leaving homes overcrowded.  

During the first two weeks of the escalation, many children were found alone without their parents. As a mother, this has been one of the hardest realities for me to process.

I recall an unaccompanied one-year-old girl who had been separated from her family, and sustained a brain injury that needed surgery. Being so young, she couldn’t speak, tell us her name, or identify her parents. She spent five days alone in the hospital, with only social workers to comfort her. It wasn’t until the fifth day that we located her aunt.

Picture a one-year-old girl, recovering from brain surgery, surrounded by strangers in an unfamiliar environment, with no family to comfort her. It’s a haunting image, and unfortunately, it’s one many humanitarian workers in the region are encountering far too often.

This is the reality facing people in Lebanon today. It underscores the importance of aid and donations, which can give families a chance to rebuild their lives – whether it’s a mother displaced with her two children, or a child separated from her family.

When discussing crises like the one in Lebanon, it’s easy to be guided by numbers – how many have been displaced or killed. But people aren’t numbers, and their stories matter.

Zeina Zouein is deputy director of programmes for IRC Lebanon, a Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) charity member. Find out how to donate to the DEC Middle East Humanitarian Appeal here. You can also call 0330 123 0333 (standard network charges apply) or text SUPPORT to 70676 to donate £10.

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