Millions of people in Syria are facing hunger due to prolonged conflict, economic collapse and an escalation in violence.

Food security has deteriorated even further since the overthrow of the Assad regime in December 2024, affecting over half of the population. Nearly 3 million people are projected to be severely food insecure.

At the same time, more than 7 million people remain internally displaced while essential infrastructure, homes and services have been destroyed.

A recent escalation of violence in Syria’s coastal areas underscores the fragility of the country’s transition.

The World Food Programme (WFP) reaches over 1.5 million people each month with targeted emergency food assistance, school meals, and nutrition and livelihood support. 

However, funding shortfalls are hindering our ability to operate at scale. WFP needs US$335 million for its emergency and recovery work in Syria in 2025.

What the World Food Programme is doing to respond to the Syria emergency

Emergency response
Since the situation in Syria escalated in late 2024, WFP and partners have provided ready-to-eat rations, as well as hot and fresh meals. Prior to this, an emergency response was activated within hours of the escalation of hostilities in Lebanon, to cope with an influx of people fleeing the war.
Food assistance
Due to funding shortfalls and higher food prices and operational costs, in 2023 WFP was forced to first reduce and then discontinue its large-scale General Food Assistance programme that had assisted 5.5 million people in Syria in 2023 alone. WFP launched a highly targeted emergency food assistance programme to reach 1 million severely food-insecure people. This is only a third of those severely food insecure in the country. School meals, nutrition and early-recovery work continue uninterrupted. However, dwindling humanitarian funding is limiting WFP’s ability to implement these activities at scale.
Nutrition
WFP’s nutrition programme helps children get the best possible start in life and supports pregnant and nursing mothers in fighting and preventing malnutrition. WFP currently supports over 300,000 pregnant and nursing women and girls, and children aged between 6 months and 2 years, to access nutrient-rich foods and improve their diets across all 14 governorates in Syria. This includes supporting women with value vouchers to diversify their diets, improve vitamin and mineral intake, and meet their nutritional needs.
School meals
WFP provides fortified snacks, fresh meals and food assistance, through electronic vouchers, to more than 460,000 students. This food is a key step in helping improve students’ health and nutrition, while motivating their families to keep sending them to school. The fresh school meals programme in Aleppo trains and employs vulnerable women to prepare the fresh meals, providing them with an income to support their families and become financially independent.
Livelihoods
To promote self-sufficient communities and reduce their reliance on urgent assistance, WFP helps families across Syria to restore their livelihoods, improve their food security and enhance their resilience to future shocks. Through vocational training and the rehabilitation of local infrastructure, such as irrigation channels and bakeries, Syrian families will have the opportunities to remain on their farms, grow their own food and improve their incomes.

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Partners and Donors

Achieving Zero Hunger is the work of many. Our work in Syria is made possible by the support and collaboration of our partners and donors, including:
Australia Belgium Canada ECHO Germany

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