The World Food Program (WFP) announced in a press release on Tuesday that “It has cut its assistance to 2.5 million people of the 5.5 million people in need due to an unprecedented funding crisis in Syria.”
The statement made it clear that “after exhausting all other options, the “WFP” took the decision to expand the very limited resources by prioritizing the three million Syrians who are unable to make it from one week to the next without food assistance rather than continue providing assistance to 5.5 million people and running out of food completely by next October.
The statement said that “we’re facing the bleak scenario of taking assistance away from people at a time when they are most in need to it, instead of stretching or even keeping pace with increasing needs.”
The statement pointed out that “Syrians have been living in a state of emergency after 12 years of war launched by the Assad regime against the Syrian people, which tore the country apart and forcibly caused the displacement of half of the Syrian population, and then the disasters came successively such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the devastating earthquake last February.”
The statement emphasized that “over the past two years, “WFP” had taken every possible measure to expand available resources and continue its assistance to the most vulnerable, including gradually reducing the size of the monthly food ration, to half its former size.”
The statement referred to the challenges it faces in Syria, represented by the increasing needs at a pace that funding has not been able to meet, and the high cost of delivering food aid to an unprecedented level due to the high prices of food and fuel.
The statement warned that Malnutrition rates in Syria have reached an all-time high, with one in four pregnant and breastfeeding mothers suffering from acute malnutrition, and one in four children suffering from stunting.”
The “WFP” is deeply concerned that people who are stripped of assistance will sink further into poverty and hunger, forcing them to rely increasingly on harmful coping mechanisms such as child labor, early marriage, or accumulating more debt.”
The “WFP” calls on partners and major donors to urgently secure a minimum of $180 million to avoid these cuts and to continue providing food assistance at its current level until the end of the year.
This announcement comes as the European Union prepares to host the 7th Brussels Conference on “Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region” on Wednesday, and after the “WFP” reduced the size of the food basket 5 times over the past two years.
