GENDER ALERT: GENDER AND DISPLACEMENT IN LEBANON AT THE JUNCTURE OF THE CEASEFIRE

Between October 2023 and late November 2024, Lebanon experienced the largest escalation of hostilities with Israel since the 2006 War. Intense Israeli airstrikes coupled with evacuation orders across Lebanon, including in eastern and southern Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut, resulted in mass displacement and heightened socioeconomic vulnerabilities among affected populations. As of 24 November 2024, close to 900,000 individuals were displaced due to the conflict; with women and girls making up 51 per cent of the internally displaced population.[1] Of an estimated 260,000 households, close to 21 per cent were women-led households.[2] Additionally, more than 80,000 Syrians and 3,466 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon were among the displaced.[3] The conflict took a profound toll on people’s lives. Lebanese health officials estimate that, since the escalation of hostilities on 8 October 2023, 4,047 people have been killed and 16,638 wounded, including at least 790 women and 316 children.

Following the ceasefire reached on 27 November 2024, around 80 per cent of internally displaced persons (IDPs) are estimated to have returned to their places of origin. However, many others are unable to return to their communities due to damage and destruction, as well as restrictions imposed by the Israeli Army. Of the 20 percent that remain internally displaced, 52 per cent are women and girls. Despite the ceasefire, the impact of the escalation remains deeply felt across Lebanon. The mass displacement has challenged host communities already struggling to cope with the prolonged and multi-layered social and economic crisis in Lebanon since 2019.

UN Women collected and analysed data to deepen understanding of the gender dimensions of the conflict and derive gender-focused recommendations to inform humanitarian response and recovery efforts. This aims to help ensure that relief and recovery does not perpetuate pre-existing gender inequalities and contribute to transformative approaches to empower women premised on equal relationships between women and men.  As commonly witnessed in other contexts, this latest Gender Alert confirms that while the conflict impacts civilians indiscriminately, women and girls have been disproportionately affected due to multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination that heighten their exclusion and risks.