The UN announced this Tuesday (13) that it would have to cut aid to Syrians in need of basic food aid by nearly half due to lack of funding.
“An unprecedented funding crisis in Syria is forcing the World Food Program (WFP) to cut its basic food aid by 2.5 million people, compared to the 5.5 million it has helped to date”WFP said in a statement.
“After exploring all options” and instead of running out of reserves by October, WFP says it opted to help “the three million Syrians cannot survive a week without food aid”.
“Instead of increasing [as operações] or simply keep up with the growing pace of needs, we face the dismal scenario of aid being denied to part of the population at a time when it is most needed.”lamented the WFP representative in Syria, Kenn Crossle, quoted in the press release.
The UN agency’s announcement comes on the eve of the European Union conference in Brussels on the future of Syria and the region.
The Syrian people are suffering the consequences of 12 years of war that caused the deaths of half a million people, displaced millions and the fragmentation of the country.
The situation was exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to a severe economic crisis and an exponential rise in prices, and by the earthquake of February 6.
“Currently, an average monthly income covers only about a quarter of a family’s food needs,” notes WFP.
“It is impossible to further reduce each of the rations. Our only solution is to reduce the number of beneficiaries,” emphasizes Kenn Crossle.
Even before the earthquake, “12.1 million people in the country were starving,” according to WFP.
Source: DN
