UNHCR Beirut Field Office

UNHCR Beirut Field Office (FO) was established in 2025 through the merger of the former Beirut Mount Lebanon (BML) Office and the South Office, consolidating operations to enhance efficiency and coordination. It now covers four governorates (Beirut, Mount Lebanon, South, and Nabatieh) spanning 14 districts and 596 municipalities. The area hosts approximately 2.75 million Lebanese residents and 42% of the refugee and migrant population in Lebanon.

The office operates in a predominantly urban context, where most refugees live in dense urban neighborhoods rather than camps. However, it also hosts over 500 informal settlements, mainly concentrated along the coastal zones of South Lebanon and Mount Lebanon, with some in mountainous districts at elevations up to 1,800 meters. Notably, 88% of these sites consist of fewer than five tents, reflecting small, scattered settlements that present challenges for service delivery.

UNHCR’s Beirut FO has agreements with seven partners that implement projects (Caritas Lebanon, Makhzoumi Foundation, Amel Association, Restart Center, Medair, INTERSOS, and SHEILD), and has a network of 201 refugee and Lebanese outreach volunteers to assist families living throughout the area.

The office supports nine Community Development Centres (CDCs) in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, managed by Makhzoumi Foundation, Caritas Lebanon, and Amel Association, offering integrated services to refugees and host communities. In the South, it supports one CDC in Saida (Caritas Lebanon) and partners with SHEILD to deliver community engagement activities through six MoSA Social Development Centres (SDCs). CDCs and SDCs provide information sessions, skills training, psychosocial support, case management, and outreach to remote areas to improve service access for diverse groups.

Beirut – UNHCR Lebanon