The two month conflict in the Middle East in midsummer 2006 destroyed up to 90 percent of homes in southern Lebanon, displaced approximately one million people and left 1,187 dead. More than 40 percent of those killed were children, and the children displaced to refugee camps needed protection, health care, education and psycho-social support.

Save the Children USA and sister colleagues arrived in the affected areas in Lebanon on July 26, just 72 hours after the fighting began. Save the Children also scaled up its emergency response activities in Gaza, and channeled additional emergency funding to its partners in Israel. The initial focus of the response in Lebanon was on the provision of sleeping materials, hygiene kits and basic medicines to displaced families. After further assessments of the situation and needs of children, safe play areas were established. Today, approximately 50,000 children and adults in Lebanon, West Bank/ Gaza and Israel have benefited from Save the Children’s programs.

You can help Save the Children respond to emergencies like these that put at great risk the survival, protection, and well-being of significant numbers of children. By contributing to the Children’s Emergency Fund, you help us to respond immediately to children and families who urgently need our assistance when disasters strike.

Read More on our Response in Lebanon, West Bank / Gaza, and Israel