Children in Conflict: Lebanon Post-War Recovery and Reintegration Pathways (Lebanon, 2026)

This study examines the impact of the 2024 conflict on children’s lives in Lebanon, drawing on a mixed-methods approach combining a large-scale quantitative survey with qualitative methods including focus group discussions, peer interviews, creative art workshops, and key informant interviews.

Findings reveal widespread disruption across education, safety, psychosocial well-being, and community life. While school enrollment remained relatively high, attendance and learning continuity were severely affected by insecurity, displacement, and limited access to remedial support. Safety concerns persisted beyond the ceasefire, with children reporting ongoing fear, exposure to violence, and constrained mobility. Social and community life remained fragile, with limited signs of recovery in interpersonal relations and access to safe spaces.

Despite demonstrating notable emotional resilience, children’s access to structured psychosocial, protection, and health services was uneven and largely informal. Children and caregivers alike identified safety, education recovery, psychosocial support, and family well-being as their most urgent priorities. Institutional responses remain under strain, with gaps in coordination, coverage, and capacity for sustained recovery programming.

Overall, the findings underscore that children’s recovery is constrained not by a lack of resilience, but by structural barriers — including persistent insecurity, economic hardship, and weakened community cohesion. Meaningful recovery requires sustained, coordinated, and multi-sectoral action to restore safe access to education, expand psychosocial and protection services, and rebuild the conditions in which children can participate and thrive.