Lebanon Cash Working Group: Situation Report #2 (Reporting period: 15 April to 15 May 2026)

Country: Lebanon Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees Please refer to the attached file. Situation Overview Renewed hostilities since early March 2026 have significantly aggravated humanitarian needs across Lebanon, triggering mass internal displacement now affecting more than one million people. Against this backdrop, the 2026 Flash Appeal (March–May) seeks USD 308.3 million to address urgent needs, yet funding levels remain critically insufficient, with overall coverage below 40 per cent. Cash-based responses, particularly MPCA, are among the most underfunded components, limiting the response’s ability to keep pace with the scale, diversity, and geographic spread of needs. Despite access and security constraints, local markets continue to operate in most displacement-affected areas, including major IDP-hosting locations. This reality reinforces the operational relevance of cash assistance, which the Cash Working Group (CWG) continues to prioritize as the most appropriate response modality where markets are functional, supporting choice, flexibility, and efficient delivery at scale. For displaced households living outside shelters, cash assistance plays a critical role in covering a wide range of essential expenditures, including housing, food, healthcare, transport, and disability-related needs, while also reducing exposure to high-risk coping strategies. These needs are particularly acute in hard-to-reach and high-risk areas, including parts of southern Lebanon. However, the persistent under-resourcing of cash assistance highlights the need for greater financing flexibility, improved alignment across sectors, and stronger collective prioritization to ensure assistance reaches those most in need in a timely and predictable manner.

Original source: Relief Web