Save the Children Warns of Severe Mental Health Crisis Among Displaced Children in Lebanon

The ongoing war in Lebanon is inflicting severe damage on children's mental health as safe spaces like schools face destruction amidst a mere "ceasefire on paper," according to Janti Soeripto, the head of Save the Children US.

In an interview with The National, Ms Soeripto emphasized that the trauma of displacement—marked by lost family members, killed friends, and ruined homes—is an ordeal that “no child should ever have to live through.”

“There is a ceasefire on paper; there's definitely not a ceasefire in practice,” she stated. “The daily reality for families in Lebanon, particularly in the south, is that bombings happen, shelling happens, homes and hospitals and schools are continuously still hit.”

Ms Soeripto recently returned from a visit to Lebanon, where she observed how children and families are struggling to cope with the aftermath of the war. She highlighted that approximately 55 villages in the south remain under Israeli control, with roughly 40,000 homes destroyed in that region. Out of the more than 4,000 people killed since March, about 250 are children, and approximately 300,000 individuals remain displaced.

“Even if they felt safe, there's nothing to go back to,” Ms Soeripto said regarding the displaced population. “They've lost their homes, their income, their jobs, or sometimes their businesses.”

With life savings depleted and a lack of employment opportunities in their new locations, numerous families must rely entirely on charity and loans. Combined with pre-existing skyrocketing inflation, accessing essential goods like food and fuel has become increasingly difficult.

Amid this pervasive uncertainty, children's mental health is deteriorating significantly. “You see kids who are drawing, and essentially the question is, draw what you feel what you feel like right now,” Ms Soeripto explained. “You see drawings of planes with bombs dropping on their homes, or they're all drawn in black and white – so it's very viscerally clear that children are suffering from the trauma that they have seen and heard.”

While younger children struggle with the inability to play and interact with peers, teenagers report feeling left behind and that their lives are passing them by.

A critical issue is the widespread destruction of educational infrastructure. More than 340 schools across the country have been damaged or destroyed, while those still standing often serve as shelters for displaced families. Consequently, at least 100,000 children are at risk of missing the upcoming school year, losing crucial social and emotional development.

Despite these urgent needs, humanitarian funding remains critically low. Ms Soeripto noted that the UN's humanitarian appeal for Lebanon is currently only 20 percent funded due to donor hesitation and competing global crises.

Ms Soeripto will travel to New York this week for the UN General Assembly to urge member states to increase their financial support for children trapped in conflict zones.