European Union Helps WFP Provide Food Assistance To Conflict-Affected Families In Syria
DAMASCUS – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) provided life-saving emergency food assistance in 2016 to vulnerable families affected by the conflict in Syria thanks in part to contributions from the European Union (EU).
“WFP monthly food assistance saves lives and offers hope to millions of people across Syria,” said WFP Country Director and Representative Jakob Kern. “Thanks to support from the European Union, WFP was able to provide emergency food assistance including food rations, hot meals and bread to the most critically affected Syrians last year.”
Among the top five donors to WFP’s Syria response, the EU contributed €11 million (US$11.6 million) in 2016, helping WFP to alleviate the suffering of Syrian families across the country.
WFP supports the food needs of more than four million vulnerable people in Syria every month primarily through food rations that contain rice, lentils, bulgur wheat, vegetable oil, sugar and salt. Each ration provides enough food for a family of five for one month.
Soon entering its seventh year, the Syrian crisis shows no signs of abating. Civilians continue to suffer across the country, with nine million people requiring food assistance. Almost 30 percent of WFP food assistance is delivered through cross-border, cross-line and air operations to areas that are not reachable through regular road deliveries.
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WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience. Each year, WFP assists some 80 million people in around 80 countries.
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To access WFP in Syria in 2016 - Year in Review report click:
http://publications.wfp.org/en/syria-annual-report/2016/
For more information please contact:
Marwa Awad, WFP/Damascus, Mob. +963 958 882 900
Dina El-Kassaby, WFP/Cairo, Mob. +20 1015218882