Lebanon – More than 13,000 pregnant displaced women need urgent care, and the scale of losses is enormous

UNFPA representative Anandita Philippos said – via video at a press conference with UN agencies in Geneva – that as of April 12, 1,355 women had been killed or injured since the outbreak of the conflict, and that last Wednesday alone (April 8), 99 women and 31 children were killed in various parts of Lebanon, as more than 100 bombs were thrown within less than 10 minutes that day.

added: “Families are still desperately searching for their missing loved ones. New mothers are holding their newborns, unsure if safety will ever return.”.

She also pointed out that health care workers, who are already suffering from exhaustion, continue to work beyond their own psychological trauma in order to save the lives of others.

She said that “The scale of the losses is enormous; these attacks push the health system, which is already fragile, to the brink of complete collapse.”.

Risk of gender-based violence

The representative of the United Nations Population Fund reported that there are an estimated 13,500 displaced pregnant women in urgent need of maternal and reproductive health care, including 1,700 women who are still in southern Lebanon, which is under constant attacks.

It also warned that gender-based violence threatens 620,000 displaced women and girls in Lebanon, who represent more than half of the total number of displaced people residing in shelter centers.

She pointed out that colleagues in the Fund have directly affected the repercussions of this crisis. “Some of them witnessed the bombing operations with their own eyes and saw buildings being leveled and debris flying in the air.”.

Desperate need to move

The UN official confirmed that, in the midst of the collective shock that befell the Fund’s team, they continue to respond to the growing and unprecedented needs in the fields of health and protection.

She said: “Our field teams are deployed inside and outside shelters, penetrating deep into southern Lebanon and into hard-to-reach areas.”.

She reported that they are working to restore basic care services, deploy mobile health units, provide safe spaces, and distribute kits to ensure safe births and menstrual hygiene, as well as providing support to midwives and doctors who work under unimaginable conditions.

She confirmed that “The world cannot turn its back on this crisis. The lives of thousands of women and girls in Lebanon depend on urgent collective action, and they urgently need this action now.”.