European Commission Provides Vital Support For WFP Food Assistance In Syria | WPN World People News

This year, the European Commission Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) contributed US$22.8 million for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to provide life-saving food assistance for families across Syria.

ECHO support was integral for WFP to assist up to four million people each month across Syria, including the northeastern governorates of Hasakeh, Raqqa and Deir Ezzor. The generous contribution also empowered WFP with the ability to respond rapidly to new population displacements across Syria. Families received food rations containing items such as rice, lentils, beans, chickpeas and vegetable oil, enough to feed a family of five for one month.

“We know we can always count on the generous support of the European Commission and other partners to reach vulnerable people in need with food assistance,” said Jakob Kern, WFP Representative and Country Director in Syria. “We look forward to our continued cooperation to alleviate the suffering of displaced families in Syria.”

Yet despite donor support this past year, WFP has recently been forced to reduce its food assistance across Syria and is now reaching 3.3 million people due to insufficient funding. The ongoing conflict in Syria has trapped people in a cycle of poverty and hunger, leaving almost 6.5 million people facing acute hunger, with an additional four million people at risk of becoming food insecure.

To continue to provide food assistance to those in need across Syria, WFP urgently needs US$263 million for the first half of 2018.

Source:World Food Programme