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US Aid Cuts Force UNICEF to Scale Back Lebanon Nutrition Programs

FILE PHOTO: A baby looks on as he receives a medical check-up at a clinic in a school turned into a shelter for the displaced, where Relief International staff are providing healthcare and wellbeing services on-site, in the West Bekaa, Lebanon, November 7, 2024. REUTERS/Yara Nardi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A baby looks on as he receives a medical check-up at a clinic in a school turned into a shelter for the displaced, where Relief International staff are providing healthcare and wellbeing services on-site, in the West Bekaa, Lebanon, November 7, 2024. REUTERS/Yara Nardi/File Photo
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US Aid Cuts Force UNICEF to Scale Back Lebanon Nutrition Programs

FILE PHOTO: A baby looks on as he receives a medical check-up at a clinic in a school turned into a shelter for the displaced, where Relief International staff are providing healthcare and wellbeing services on-site, in the West Bekaa, Lebanon, November 7, 2024. REUTERS/Yara Nardi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A baby looks on as he receives a medical check-up at a clinic in a school turned into a shelter for the displaced, where Relief International staff are providing healthcare and wellbeing services on-site, in the West Bekaa, Lebanon, November 7, 2024. REUTERS/Yara Nardi/File Photo

US aid cuts have forced the UN children's agency UNICEF to suspend or scale back many programs in Lebanon, with more than half of children under the age of two experiencing severe food poverty in the country's east, an official said on Friday.

"We have been forced to suspend or cut back or drastically reduce many of our programs and that includes nutrition programs," UNICEF's deputy representative in Lebanon, Ettie Higgins, told reporters in Geneva via video link from Beirut.

More than double the number of children faced food shortages in the eastern Bekaa and Baalbek regions of the country compared to two years ago, according to a UNICEF report that studied the impact of 14 months of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel that began in October 2023.
"The assessment revealed a grim picture of children’s nutrition situation, particularly in the Baalbek and Bekaa governorates, which remained densely populated when they were repeatedly targeted by airstrikes", said Higgins.
Nearly 80% of families were in need of urgent support and 31 percent of households did not have enough drinking water, putting them at risk of disease, the report found.
UNICEF raised alarm about the impact of US aid cuts and a broader decline in global humanitarian funding.
"More than half a million children and their families (in Lebanon) risk losing critical cash support from UN agencies this month. These cuts would strip the most vulnerable of their last lifeline, leaving them unable to afford even the most basic necessities", Higgins added, according to Reuters.
Only 26% of UNICEF's 2025 Lebanon appeal is funded.
A ceasefire ended the conflict in Lebanon in November, which began when Hezbollah opened fire on Israel on October 8, 2023 in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas. 
President Donald Trump ordered a 90-day pause on all foreign aid in January to carry out a review to ensure all the projects were aligned with his "America First" policy. On Wednesday his administration said it was cutting more than 90% of the US Agency for International Development's aid contracts. 
 

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Iraqi Kurdistan: Assailant of Assyrian Celebration Attack Affiliated with ISIS

 Akitu holiday celebrators carrying a flag for the Assyrians in Iraq (AP). 
 Akitu holiday celebrators carrying a flag for the Assyrians in Iraq (AP). 
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Iraqi Kurdistan: Assailant of Assyrian Celebration Attack Affiliated with ISIS

 Akitu holiday celebrators carrying a flag for the Assyrians in Iraq (AP). 
 Akitu holiday celebrators carrying a flag for the Assyrians in Iraq (AP). 

Authorities in Duhok, in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, announced on Wednesday that the attack carried out by a Syrian national during a Christian celebration in the city was an “act of terrorism.”

On Tuesday, the attacker infiltrated a gathering of Syriac Christians celebrating the Akitu festival in central Duhok. He then pulled out an axe and attacked a young man, a 70-year-old woman, and a security officer.

Videos circulating on local media platforms showed a group of people apprehending the attacker, who was seen making hand gestures and shouting “Islamic State.” Shamon Shlimon, the deputy governor of Duhok, stated that initial investigations revealed the attacker was a Syrian national and that given the slogans he shouted, “it is clear that the attack was an act of terrorism.”

Later, security sources confirmed that the assailant admitted to police that he belonged to a terrorist organization.

The Kurdistan Regional Security Council later announced that the attacker was affiliated with an ISIS-linked group. In a press statement, the council said: “While the people of Duhok were celebrating Akitu, an individual holding extremist ISIS ideologies attacked citizens in the market with a sharp weapon.”

The Kurdistan Regional Presidency condemned the “criminal attack,” affirming that it would not tolerate any actions that undermine the culture of coexistence, acceptance, and tolerance.

In a statement on Wednesday, the presidency said it was “closely following” the investigation into the “criminal attack” in Duhok, assuring that the perpetrator will face legal consequences.

This is the first attack of its kind in Duhok. Chaldeans and Syriacs celebrate Babylonian-Assyrian New Year (Akitu) every April 1. During the recent attack, more than 8,000 people were present, half of whom were from outside the Kurdistan region, according to local reports.

The Akitu festival features celebrations, cultural and artistic events, and recreational activities, including traditional dances.