Terre Des Hommes Foundation

Terre des hommes (Tdh) is the leading Swiss organisation for children’s aid. Through our health, protection and emergency relief programmes, we provide assistance to over three million children and their families in more than 45 countries each year. Lebanon is the country with the highest per capita ratio of refugee worldwide, 1 inhabitant out of 3 being displaced from Syria or Palestine. According the UN agencies, Lebanon hosted 991,917 registered Syrian refugees in February 2018 – 1.5 million including the unregistered - along with more than 450 000 Palestinian Refugees. Most of the refugees live in 12 official camps across the country. This situation has impact at all levels, putting a significant strain on the local resources, infrastructures and services, exacerbating already limited capacities and deteriorating the social cohesion. In this context, major child protection concerns such as gender-based violence, child labour, early marriage, school dropouts and negative coping mechanisms are widespread and increasing. Tdh opened its Lebanese delegation in 1977. After a few years out of the country in the 90’s, Tdh reopened an office in 2006 in South Lebanon to respond to the humanitarian needs generated by the 33-day war. Tdh soon became, and still is today, the main child protection (CP) agency in the South.