Double Crisis: Effects of a Pandemic and Economic Crisis on Lebanon’s most Vulnerable Adolescents

The Covid-19 outbreak affected the entire world and changed many of our norms and day-to-day lives. Lebanon was also affected greatly starting from the “general mobilization”, to curfews, mass closures, and shutdown of all vital institutions including the airport. This resulted in many households to lose their livelihoods because the Covid-19 crisis was paired with the economic and monetary crisis. In response to growing calls to ensure that national and international responses to the Covid-19 situation are inclusive of all social groups, including refugee communities, and context-tailored, this policy brief draws on virtual qualitative interviews with vulnerable young people in Lebanon to better understand the compounded effects of the pandemic, and the pre-existing economic and political crisis facing the country. It is part of a cross-country series designed to share emerging findings in real time from qualitative interviews with adolescents in the context of Covid-19. The young people involved are part of the Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE) program’s longitudinal research in the Middle East, East Africa, and South Asia. More specifically, this brief draws on data from 60 telephone conversations with vulnerable 15–19 year-old Syrian, Palestinian and Lebanese adolescent boys and girls, including married girls, held in April and May, 2020.