Children at risk as evacuation orders trigger new wave of displacement across Lebanon

BEIRUT (March 10, 2026) —Global Christian humanitarian organization World Vision is calling for the urgent protection and support for children as expanding evacuation orders and escalating insecurity trigger a new wave of internal displacement across Lebanon. 

According to the United Nation’s refugee agency, close to 700,000 people have now registered with the Lebanese government’s online displacement platform, an increase of over 100,000 in just one day and the number is rising.

World Vision has reached more than 75,000 people, including more than 26,473 children, with blankets, hot meals, family hygiene kits, and mattresses, among other supplies. Still, humanitarian needs are expected to continue to grow in the coming days, with thousands of children likely to require psychosocial support and protection services.  

“Every time families are forced to flee, children lose the little stability they have left,” said Heidi Diedrich, World Vision’s national director in Lebanon.  “They leave behind their homes, schools, and sense of safety. They urgently need psychosocial support, protection and safe spaces where they can begin to feel like children again.”  

Diedrich called for immediate support from the international community to ensure humanitarian organizations can respond quickly to the growing needs of displaced families.  

Therese Boulos, a World Vision program manager in Lebanon, said children are arriving in the shelters, cold, exhausted, and clinging to their parents as they search for safety.  

“In those moments, you see mothers and fathers doing everything they can to comfort their children, wrapping them in blankets, keeping them close, and trying to give them a sense of safety while so much around them feels uncertain.” 

For more than 50 years, World Vision has worked alongside communities in Lebanon to provide lifesaving assistance and long-term support in the places where it’s hardest to be a child. The organization works with local partners to provide emergency food assistance, education support, child protection, clean water, healthcare, and psychosocial services in some of the country’s most fragile and crisis-affected communities.

About World Vision: 
World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. Motivated by our faith in Jesus Christ, we serve alongside the poor and oppressed as a demonstration of God’s unconditional love for all people. World Vision serves all people, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity or gender. For more information, visit worldvision.org or follow on X @WorldVisionUSA.