Lebanon

Conflict has left 30 percent of Lebanon’s population acutely food insecure and forced nearly 100 health facilities to close. Internally displaced women face heightened risks of gender-based violence in overcrowded shelters, while extensive destruction and Israeli attacks on UN facilities have restricted Lebanese women’s access to humanitarian aid, including maternal healthcare and malnutrition treatment. Lebanon’s economic collapse takes a magnified toll on women and female-headed households, who experience higher rates of food insecurity and poverty than men. Discriminatory personal status laws also limit women’s rights in property, marriage, divorce, and child custody, undermining their economic autonomy. Yet, women continue to push for change. Approximately 3,000 women ran in the 2025 municipal and mukhtar (mayoral) elections, aligning with the 2025 SALMA (“Together for Equality”) agreement’s 30 percent target for female representation. This follows the appointment of five women to Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s 24-member cabinet in February 2025. 

Despite this progress toward women’s greater political participation, Lebanon’s stability remains precarious. The Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire is increasingly strained by persistent tit-for-tat strikes, which impede recovery from prior damage to southern Lebanon’s environment, agriculture, and economy. The scale of devastation has left many women and girls indefinitely displaced or without access to education and community services. Although Lebanese women are spearheading grassroots recovery efforts—from food security to local rebuilding—progress will be slow without sustained security, resources, and domestic political will.

Regional tensions continue to intensify and, on November 18, 2025, Israel carried out the deadliest strike on Lebanon since the ceasefire, killing dozens in the south. Women in southern Lebanon report that “the war never ended,” citing ongoing shelling, repeated displacement, and restrictions on mobility that disrupt access to health care, livelihoods, and safe schooling for girls. Ongoing insecurity heightens risks of gender-based violence, early marriage, and economic exploitation—particularly for displaced women and women heads of household.

The already-stalled disarmament process grew more volatile in November 2025 as Israel warned of military escalation unless Hezbollah surrendered heavy weapons. Hezbollah insists that disarmament cannot proceed amid ongoing strikes. Tensions further worsened when Israeli forces fired on UN peacekeepers on November 16, which the UN Interim Force in Lebanon condemned as a “serious violation.” This impasse threatens to disrupt access to humanitarian aid and basic services, leaving women and girls at greater risk of restricted access to healthcare and protection. Should the standoff trigger broader escalation, women and girls would also be at risk of renewed displacement.

More than 294,000 Syrian refugees have returned home from Lebanon in 2025, including the first UNHCR-facilitated return movement launched on October 9. Yet an estimated 1.4 million Syrian refugees remain in Lebanon, many in insecure border areas affected by airstrikes and economic collapse. For displaced women and girls, these conditions mean increased risks of sexual violence, unsafe shelters, and limited access to health services—including shortages of menstrual hygiene supplies. Conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has further strained humanitarian assistance, leaving refugee women and girls with reduced protection and support.

On November 11, 2025, Lebanon’s Information Minister announced that the draft media law had been finalized, and it will soon be sent to the full assembly for a vote. The draft has drawn criticism from rights groups, who warn that these provisions risk silencing activists and shrinking civil society space—which could disproportionately affect women journalists and organizations advocating for gender equality. Curtailing women’s voices in public discourse could undermine progress in expanding women’s participation and leadership in Lebanon’s civic life.

In October 2025, a renewed push by women’s rights activists and parliamentarian Cynthia Zarazir revived the “My Nationality is My Right and My Family’s Right” campaign, calling on lawmakers to amend Lebanon’s discriminatory nationality law. Under current legislation, Lebanese women cannot pass citizenship to their children, leaving many without access to education, healthcare, or formal employment. Reforming this law would mark a transformative step toward gender equality and help advance women’s legal agency, family security, and equal participation in civic life.

A new UN Women–UNSCOL study highlights progress and obstacles to women’s political leadership in Lebanon. Women make up 35 percent of party members but hold less than 20 percent of senior positions and just 5 percent of top roles. With the 2026 parliamentary elections approaching, the report points to concrete opportunities for progress through enforceable gender quotas, transparent nomination processes, and stronger safeguards against political harassment. Expanding women’s influence in party leadership and decision-making could transform representation—currently just 8 out of 128 MPs—and build inclusive institutions.