Beirut, Lebanon:
A year following a monster explosion at Beirut’s port, one in 3 households in Lebanon have children nonetheless displaying indicators of trauma, the UN mentioned Tuesday.
“One in three families (34 percent) has children still showing signs of psychological distress,” mentioned the UN agency for children, UNICEF, citing a July survey of 1,200 households.
“In the case of adults, the figure reaches almost one in two (45.6 percent),” it added in a report published on the eve of the blast’s very first anniversary.
The August 4, 2020 explosion killed more than 200 folks, wounded at least 6,500 other people and broken swathes of the capital.
In the year considering that, Lebanon has also had to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic and a spiralling financial crisis branded by the World Bank as one of the planet’s worst considering that the mid-19th century.
“One year after the tragic events, children’s lives remain deeply affected,” mentioned Yukie Mokuo, UNICEF’s representative in Lebanon.
“Those families have been struggling to recover from the aftermath of the explosions at the worst possible time – in the middle of a devastating economic crisis and a major pandemic.”
A UNICEF survey in July identified that just about all households that requested help in the wake of the Beirut port blast nonetheless will need enable, in particular money and meals help, the agency mentioned.
Many who lost employment simply because of the blast have but to locate work, UNICEF added, as Lebanon grapples with soaring poverty, rampant inflation and shortages of standard things from medicine to fuel.
“Children’s lives are at risk as the escalating crisis is leaving most families unable to afford their basic needs,” Mokuo mentioned.
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