Emerging Gender Analysis: Multi-Sectoral Needs Assessment (Beirut Explosion)

On Wednesday 4th August 2020, at 6:08pm, two explosions occurred at the Port of Beirut causing widespread casualties and material damage. With over 180 dead, over 6000 injured and up to 300,000 displaced, the explosions have had a devastating impact on Beirut and will furthermore have broad, long-term negative impact on the country due to the destruction of the port and its effect on deepening Lebanon’s economic crisis.

As Lebanon works to address the immediate needs caused by the explosions and to begin its recovery within the context of a deep economic crisis compounded by the COVID-19 epidemic, it is critical that these recovery efforts are inclusive and seek to leave no one behind, including the needs of women, girls, and LGBTIQ+ persons.

To date there has been little gender analysis from the impact of the explosion. An initial assessment undertaken by ACTED states that women, the elderly and people with specific needs (chronically ill, persons with disability, elderly headed households) are identified as the most in need of protection assistance across impacted locations. UN Women is working with humanitarian partners across Lebanon to advocate for and ensure that all assessments being undertaken generate gender and age disaggregated data, and that this analysis informs interventions, targeting, and recovery planning.

This publication presents early gender equality related findings from a first wave of the Joint Multi-Sectoral Needs Assessment (MSNA), led by LRC, collected by humanitarian partners: LRC, ACTED, NRC, MEDAIR, Save the Children, Intersos, and Solidarites. This initial sample of 4,194 interviews3 is from the explosion affected areas, specifically: Achrafieh, Rmeil, Mdaouar, Bachoura, Saifi, Karantina, Beirut Central district, the Port, and Mina Alhosn. This is one of the first significant datasets that includes the gender of the head of household as a variable, meaning that some preliminary gender analysis can be conducted on the impact of the explosion.4 The findings summarized here provide some initial understanding of the differential impact on women, men, boys, and girls, but should not be utilized as representative statistics on gender and the explosion.