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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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Arab World

UN: Over 1,000 Civilians Killed in Sudan's Darfur when Paramilitary Group Seized Camp

The Sudanese flag flutters in Omdurman, part of greater Khartoum on December 13, 2025. (AFP)
The Sudanese flag flutters in Omdurman, part of greater Khartoum on December 13, 2025. (AFP)
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UN: Over 1,000 Civilians Killed in Sudan's Darfur when Paramilitary Group Seized Camp

The Sudanese flag flutters in Omdurman, part of greater Khartoum on December 13, 2025. (AFP)
The Sudanese flag flutters in Omdurman, part of greater Khartoum on December 13, 2025. (AFP)

Over 1,000 civilians were killed when a Sudanese paramilitary group took over a displacement camp in Sudan's Darfur region in April, including about a third who were summarily executed, according to a report by the UN Human Rights Office on Thursday.

"Such deliberate killing of civilians or persons hors de combat may constitute the war crime of murder,” said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk in a statement accompanying the 18-page report.

The Zamzam camp in Sudan's western region of Darfur housed around half a million people displaced by the civil war and was taken over by Rapid Support Forces between April 11-13.

Arab World

Guterres Says Operating Environment 'Untenable’ in Areas Held by Houthis

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference at the Nasrec Expo Center in Johannesburg on November 21, 2025, ahead of the G20 Leaders' Summit. (Photo by GIANLUIGI GUERCIA / AFP)
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference at the Nasrec Expo Center in Johannesburg on November 21, 2025, ahead of the G20 Leaders' Summit. (Photo by GIANLUIGI GUERCIA / AFP)
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Guterres Says Operating Environment 'Untenable’ in Areas Held by Houthis

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference at the Nasrec Expo Center in Johannesburg on November 21, 2025, ahead of the G20 Leaders' Summit. (Photo by GIANLUIGI GUERCIA / AFP)
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference at the Nasrec Expo Center in Johannesburg on November 21, 2025, ahead of the G20 Leaders' Summit. (Photo by GIANLUIGI GUERCIA / AFP)

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday urged all parties in Yemen to exercise maximum restraint after an advance by southern separatists that risks rekindling a 10-year-old civil war after a long lull.

He also said the operating environment had become untenable in the areas held by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement - Yemen's capital Sanaa and the heavily populated northwest.

"I urge all parties to exercise maximum restraint, de-escalate tensions, and resolve differences through dialogue," Guterres said. "This includes regional stakeholders, whose constructive engagement and coordination in support of UN mediation efforts are essential for ensuring collective security interests."

Guterres also condemned the Houthis' continued arbitrary detention of 59 UN staff, calling for their immediate and unconditional release.

"In recent days, Houthi de facto authorities referred three of our colleagues to a special criminal court. This referral must be rescinded. They have been charged in relation to their performance of United Nations official duties. These charges must be dropped," he said.

The United Nations has repeatedly rejected Houthi accusations that UN staff or UN operations in Yemen were involved in spying.

"We must be allowed to perform our work without interference," Guterres said. "Despite these challenges, we remain committed to providing life-saving support to millions of people across Yemen."

He said 19.5 million people in Yemen - nearly two-thirds of the population - need humanitarian assistance.

Arab World

US Congress Ends Syria Sanctions

The new Syrian government headed by Ahmed al-Sharaa had urged the US to remove sanctions. Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP
The new Syrian government headed by Ahmed al-Sharaa had urged the US to remove sanctions. Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP
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US Congress Ends Syria Sanctions

The new Syrian government headed by Ahmed al-Sharaa had urged the US to remove sanctions. Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP
The new Syrian government headed by Ahmed al-Sharaa had urged the US to remove sanctions. Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP

The US Congress on Wednesday permanently ended sanctions imposed on Syria under ousted leader Bashar al-Assad, paving the way for the return of investment to the war-ravaged nation.

President Donald Trump had already twice suspended the implementation of sanctions in response to calls from Saudi Arabia and Türkiye.

The new government headed by Ahmed al-Sharaa had sought a permanent end to the sanctions, fearing that so long as the measures remained on the books they would deter businesses wary of legal risks in the world's largest economy, reported AFP.

The Senate passed the repeal of the 2019 Caesar Act as part of a sweeping annual defense package. The Senate voted 77 to 20 in favor of the legislation, which was already approved by the House of Representatives and is expected to be signed by Trump.

The repeal, broadly backed by lawmakers of both parties, "is a decisive step toward giving the Syrian people a real chance to rebuild after decades of unimaginable suffering," said Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Damascus hailed the decision as a turning point.

"We express our gratitude and appreciation to the US Senate for its support of the Syrian people and its vote to repeal the Caesar Act," Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said.

He described the move as "a positive development that opens new horizons for cooperation and partnership between our country and the world".

The Caesar Act, named after an anonymous photographer who documented atrocities in Assad's prisons, severely restricted investment and cut off Syria from the international banking system.

The law was intended to prevent the influx of foreign businesses to rebuild Syria at a time when it had seemed that Assad had triumphed following more than a decade of brutal civil war that triggered a massive flow of refugees toward Europe and helped spawn the birth of the ISIS extremist movement.

Sharaa's fighters seized Damascus a year ago in a lightning offensive.

Sharaa has impressed Trump, including when they first met during the US leader's May trip to Riyadh.