World Food Program: 90% of Syrians live below the poverty line

Yesterday, Monday, the United Nations World Food Program confirmed that millions of Syrians are at risk of starvation as a result of the deteriorating economic and living conditions in the country.

“This month, the number of people at risk of famine in 43 countries has increased to 45 million, compared to 42 million earlier this year and 27 million in 2019,” the program said in a statement.

For his part, the Executive Director of the World Food Program, David Beasley, warned of the high level of food insecurity in Syria, which reached its highest level since 2011.

Beasley said that more than 12 million people in Syria are unable to secure their own meals.

He added, “Millions around the world are actually threatened with starvation and are on the brink of the abyss,” stressing that armed conflicts, the Corona crisis and climate change raise the toll of those who suffer from acute hunger.

He pointed out, “The current statistics indicate that more than 45 million people are walking towards the edge of famine.”

Beasley added that the rise in food and fuel prices is fueling the occurrence of new crises, such as the current crisis in Afghanistan, in addition to the continuation of wars in both Syria and Yemen.

The UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, confirmed earlier last month, “90% of Syrians live in extreme poverty, and most of them are forced to take very difficult measures to secure their daily needs.”

“The Syrians will face this year’s winter with great difficulty,” Griffiths said, noting that 2 million people, most of them children and women, live in poor camps that lack the most basic necessities of life, or in plains flooded with children’s water.

Syrians live in difficult economic and living conditions, which become increasingly difficult with the high prices of fuels and foodstuffs, in light of their lack of the minimum necessities of a decent life.