Refugee household stability and protection in Lebanon was significantly reduced throughout 2025, at least partly due to U.S. aid cuts. 40% of respondents in need during the final months of 2025 that were surveyed reported not receiving humanitarian assistance in the past year, up from 23% from the survey conducted April through June 2025.
Date: 3/26
Region: Middle East & North Africa
Country: Lebanon
Topic: Refugees & Displacement
Policy Lens: Migration & Mobility
Entry Type: Human Impact
Additional Context: The data presented was collected through the U.N. Refugee Agency's, or UNHCR, Protection Monitoring Survey, conducted monthly with Syrian refugees across Lebanon. For the fourth quarter of 2025, 4,316 household surveys were conducted across all Lebanese governorates and 107 key informant interviews were carried out to complement and validate quantitative findings. Findings were further triangulated with community sources, field observations, and secondary data from U.N. and INGO partners.
Devex Researcher Note: U.S. aid cuts in 2025 were a significant contributing factor to the deterioration in refugee assistance in Lebanon. As UNHCR's largest single donor, the U.S. withdrawal directly constrained the primary delivery mechanism for refugee protection in Lebanon, in a context where no other donor fully compensated for that loss. U.S. aid funding in Lebanon declined sharply from $348 million in 2024 — representing 26% of total humanitarian funding — to $107 million in 2025 (15.8%), with no further pledges planned for 2026.
Source: UNHCR