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About 70 percent of more than 1 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon now live below the Lebanese extreme poverty line of 3.84 U.S. dollars per day, said a report released on Wednesday.
The food security situation of Syrian refugees in Lebanon significantly worsened since 2014, said the report issued by the World Food Programme (WFP), the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Out of the more than 1.1 million Syrian refugees registered with UNHCR by June 2015, more than 760,000 were estimated to be mildly food insecure, more than 270,000 moderately food insecure and nearly 6,000 severely food insecure, said the UN agencies in a report on the refugees' vulnerability.
"The number of meals eaten each day by children and adults fell compared to 2014," Haq said. "In one in three households, members consumed just one or no cooked meals the previous day -- up from one in four households just a year ago."
The Syrian political crisis, which broke out in March 2011, and subsequent conflict have led to a massive influx of refugees into neighboring countries, including Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan.
"Each day represents a monumental struggle to meet the most basic needs," the 2015 UN Vulnerability Assessment of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon said, noting that the rise in those below the poverty line rise represented "a striking increase" from 49 percent in 2014.
"We have reached a critical juncture. More than ever, refugees need our solidarity and support," said UNHCR Representative in Lebanon Mireille Girard, whose agency compiled the report together with the WFP and UNICEF.
"Without a robust and sustainable humanitarian response, refugees risk sinking deeper and deeper into poverty," she said.
Noting that Syrian refugees now represent 25 percent of Lebanon' s total population, the world's highest number per inhabitant, the report underscored that restrictions on their access to the labour market imposed at the end of 2014 has reduced their livelihood opportunities and made it even harder for them to cover their basic needs autonomously.
"The main cause of food insecurity among Syrian refugees in Lebanon is lack of earning power," it said. "Policies, measures and programmes oriented towards allowing refugees to generate income while protecting the Lebanese labour market and mitigating potential tensions with the host community are recommended."
Food security has significantly worsened since 2014, with moderate insecurity almost doubling from 12 percent to 23 percent of refugee households, and 65 percent classified as mildly food insecure.
Dependency on food vouchers and loans as the primary livelihood source has also grown. The gap between monthly expenditures and income was estimated at 300 U.S. dollars which households have to cover mainly by taking on debt.
Consumption of nutritious and healthy foods such as vitamin A rich fruit and vegetables fell and was replaced by higher consumption of fats and sugar. Infant and young child feeding practices continued to be inadequate for almost all children between 6 and 17 months old.
Meanwhile, the report also called for scaling up programmes to increase the coverage of basic needs including food for large numbers of refugees, particularly through winter.
On education, it noted that just over half of 6-14 year olds attended school and fewer than half who entered primary grade one reached grade six. Only 5 percent of 15-17 year olds attended secondary school or higher.
"With the Syrian conflict now in its fifth year, the refugees face severe restrictions on accessing the Lebanese labour market, their assets and savings are increasingly exhausted, their debts are mounting and they must fulfil specific requirements to legalize their stay in Lebanon," the report said.
"Each day represents a monumental struggle to meet the most basic needs. While the security situation means returning to their homes in Syria is out of the question, their dependency on assistance is growing in parallel with the reduction of available funds," said the report.
"Given the limited possibilities to move to other countries, refugees continue living in a stressful context with no way out. Lebanon and the refugees it is hosting are in a very delicate state: the situation requires special and immediate measures," it added.
