UN: Lebanese children's future at stake amid economic crisis
ABC News
The U.N. children's agency says Lebanon’s severe economic crisis has left some children hungry and without good medical care, and forced others to drop out of school to help their families
BEIRUT -- Lebanon’s severe economic crisis has left some children hungry and without good medical care, and forced others to drop out of school to help their families, the United Nations said Tuesday.
The U.N. children's agency report came as the Lebanese pound traded at 23,500 to the dollar — close to lows briefly reached in the summer — further eroding the purchasing power of families in the small nation. Nearly three-quarters of Lebanon's 6 million residents, including a million Syrian refugees, now live in poverty, according to the U.N.
“Unless we act now, every child’s future in Lebanon is at stake,” said UNICEF’s representative in Lebanon, Yukie Mokuo.
Lebanon’s two-year economic meltdown is rooted in decades of corruption and mismanagement and has been described by the World Bank as among the worst the world has witnessed since the 1850s. Tens of thousands have lost their jobs since October 2019 while the pound has lost more than 90% of its value.