Gender Alert: When Crises Strike, Gender Inequalities are often Exacerbated: The Urgent Needs of Crisis Affected Women and Girls in Lebanon

As conflict in Lebanon intensifies and humanitarian response continues, this Gender Alert draws attention to the disproportionate impact women and girls in Lebanon, including women-headed households and women with disabilities in areas such as food security, shelter, WASH, Mental Health and Protection including Gender Based Violence and Violence against Women. Based on a combination of data from national surveys, databases, consultations with women, and UN Women field monitoring, this Gender Alert highlights the urgent need for the humanitarian community to uphold the rights of women and girls affected by the ongoing humanitarian crisis, with a focus on the groups most at risk such as women-headed households, widows and women with disabilities, and to meet their needs and priorities equitably. The Alert also calls on humanitarian actors to embrace women’s central role in responding to the humanitarian emergency by increasing support for women-led organizations as they work at the grassroots level and have the potential to address women’s rights and concerns and encourage their active participation in decision-making in humanitarian response planning, implementation, and monitoring.