After the explosion in Beirut on August 4, 2020, which caused more than 200 victims, over 7,000 injured and about 300,000 people displaced, INTERSOS immediately activated a rapid intervention programme to respond to the emergency.
What remains after the explosion in Beirut
On that Tuesday a powerful double explosion devastated the port of Beirut, Lebanon, and the surrounding area. The wounds of the city are clearly visible; in the most affected neighborhoods such as Karm el Zeytoun, Karantina, Bourj Hammoud, Geitawi and Nabaa, more than 200,000 homes reported structural damage, 40,000 buildings were damaged, 15,000 productive activities are paralyzed by the economic consequences of the devastation, three hospitals are uninhabitable and 178 schools were affected.
These numbers add up to the already impressive number of people affected; more than 500,000 are Lebanese, Syrian refugees and migrant workers left homeless, without work, without economic resources to survive. INTERSOS, in the country since 2006, immediately activated an emergency intervention programme to respond to the urgent needs of the population by distributing basic goods, and guaranteeing psychosocial support and economic support for the restart, taking care of the most vulnerable people among those who had lost everything due to the explosion.
How INTERSOS helped those who lost everything in the explosion in Beirut
In five months, INTERSOS has broadened the range of its humanitarian action, going door by door, talking to families to listen to their needs and starting immediate responses also linked to what most of all is a symbol of protection and refuge: the home. An emergency team thus began the inspections, analysis and assessment of structural damage and then began the rehabilitation and repair of over 650 housing units, thus reaching around 3,300 people.
Economic support for the reconstruction of a house is of fundamental importance if you live in a city and in a country in full economic crisis, where poverty has drastically increased in a year, going from 28% in 2019 to 55% in May 2020. According to the International Monetary Fund, for 2021 a change in GDP is expected to -25%.
INTERSOS staff was able to closely observe the traumas of those who lost everything that 4 August, of those who still bear physical and psychological wounds and scars. Part of the unit supported these people through psychological and psychosocial support, providing assistance and protection services but also legal assistance to the most vulnerable people. In December, multifunctional cash assistance was provided to 185 families, among the most affected by the explosion.