On World Refugee Day, Annahar, Lebanon’s oldest newspaper, partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to launch “The Displaced Edition”. By disrupting the newspaper’s structure and moving pages around, the edition transformed the act of reading into a reflection of a nation experiencing severe displacement.
The concept for the fund-raising edition was simple, but striking: for one day, the newspaper deliberately broke its own rules. Pages were reordered, headlines shifted, and stories placed in the wrong sections, mirroring the reality of families and communities whose sense of normalcy had been lost. Even the front page wasn’t on the front. Readers did not only learn about displacement; they experienced it, page by page.
One of Lebanon’s most severe humanitarian crises in history has led to more than a million people forced out of their homes – every paper sold supported the humanitarian response efforts through UNHCR and local NGO partners, funding essential aid. The initiative extended beyond print and into broadcast and film: displaced screens further emphasized discomfort. Even a live broadcast on Annahar’s primetime news showcased a displaced announcer cropped offscreen.
Nayla Tueni, Editor-in-Chief of Annahar, said: “When 1 in 5 people in Lebanon is displaced, nothing stays in place. Not our homes, not our lives, not our dignity. At Annahar, we refuse to let their struggle be ignored. The Displaced Edition puts their stories front and center. A call to see them, hear them, and act. For the people of Lebanon, this is a reckoning: displacement is not invisible. Their pain is real. Their voices matter.”
Karolina Lindholm Billing, UNHCR Representative of Lebanon, said: “We are proud to partner with Annahar, one of Lebanon’s most longstanding and influential media institutions, on this special edition on displacement. By bringing the stories and experiences of displaced people to the forefront, this initiative complements UNHCR’s efforts to raise awareness of the challenges facing affected families across Lebanon. It is a powerful reminder that solidarity, being present on the ground – with and for the people – and a whole-of-society collaborative approach are at the heart of supporting families and communities to regain their safety and dignity and rebuild their homes and lives.”
Ali Rez, Chief Creative Officer for IMPACT BBDO, commented, “More than simply tell the stories of displaced Lebanese people during these unfortunate times, we wanted readers to feel the discomfort and uncertainty that displacement brings. And the best way for a newspaper to do that was to disrupt its own order.”
On a day when global attention was focused on refugees, Annahar ensured Lebanon’s crisis remained impossible to overlook. When the people of a nation are displaced, its newspaper cannot stay still.
