US aid cuts cause UNICEF to cut back on programmes in Lebanon

US aid cuts have left the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, with no choice but to suspend or cut back on many of its programmes in Lebanon, with over half of children under two facing extreme food poverty in the east of the country, according to an official, Asharq Al-Awsat via Reuters reported on February 28th.

Through a video link from Beirut, Ettie Higgins, UNICEF’s deputy representative in Lebanon told reporters in Geneva: “We have been forced to suspend or cut back or drastically reduce many of our programs and that includes nutrition programmes.”

Higgins added: “More than half a million children and their families (in Lebanon) risk losing critical cash support from U.N. agencies this month.”

Asharq Al-Awsat via Reuters