News releases

KUWAIT - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomed a recent contribution of US$16 million from the Government of Kuwait to support people in Syria and Türkiye who have been worst affected by the February earthquake in the region.

HATAY, Türkiye – The Executive Director of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), David Beasley, has concluded a visit to the earthquake affected region of Hatay in southern Türkiye where he witnessed first-hand the incomprehensible devastation caused by the earthquake that struck on 6 February. With some 18 million people affected across southern Türkiye and northwest Syria, tens of thousands of lives have been lost, and millions upon millions of people have lost their homes, livelihoods and assets.

CAIRO/ROME – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has stepped up its emergency response to support victims of the devastating earthquake in Syria and Türkiye, providing emergency food assistance to nearly half a million quake-affected people in the two countries through hot meals, emergency ready-to-eat food packages and family food rations.

ANKARA/DAMASCUS – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has delivered urgently needed food assistance to 115,000 people in Syria and Türkiye in the first four days since deadly earthquakes struck the region, killing thousands and forcing tens of thousands into the freezing outside temperatures. Distributions are ongoing.

ANKARA/DAMASCUS – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is on the ground responding to the devastating impact of the two earthquakes that hit Türkiye and Syria on Monday. WFP food assistance has been underway since Tuesday with plans to reach half a million people in both countries.

ANKARA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has welcomed a contribution of US$700,000 from the Government of Japan to provide assistance for 52,000 Syrian refugees living in six camps in southeast Türkiye.

AMMAN, 8 October 2020 - UN Agencies* in the region unveiled today “Rej’et El Sineh” [‘Learning is Back’], a song to encourage the return to learning for all children and youth across the region.

ANKARA – As Syria enters its 10th year of conflict, which has forced more than 5.6 million people to flee their country, a survey of a major WFP cash assistance scheme in Türkiye indicates that European Union-funded support has helped prevent 1.7 million vulnerable refugees – mostly Syrians – from falling deeper into poverty.

ANKARA – An art exhibition created by women refugees in Turkey opened on Wednesday at Istanbul’s Yenikapı subway station, a major transit hub. Part of a three-month art initiative, it’s funded by a European Union assistance programme for refugees across Türkiye.

BRUSSELS – Two years after its launch, the largest humanitarian relief programme in European Union (EU) history is supporting around 1.4 million refugees in Türkiye. The scheme is funded entirely from the EU’s Facility for Refugees in Türkiye (FRIT), generously supported by EU citizens through the Member States’ contribution.

ANKARA – Extreme poverty among refugees receiving EU- funded cash assistance in Türkiye has fallen by half in a little over a year, according to a new report by the World Food Programme (WFP), the Turkish Red Crescent (TRC) and the World Bank.

ANKARA – A groundbreaking programme to support refugees in Türkiye is providing monthly cash assistance to vulnerable families at an unprecedented scale. Just a year after its launch, the European Union-funded programme is reaching 1 million refugees, most of them from war-torn Syria.

ANKARA – The number of refugees in Türkiye receiving monthly cash assistance through an innovative relief programme has now reached more than 850,000 and continues to rise. The EU-funded Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN) supports the most vulnerable refugee families in Türkiye with a debit card to cover basic needs such as food, rent, medicine and clothes.

ANKARA – The number of refugees in Türkiye receiving monthly cash assistance through an innovative relief programme has now reached 500,000 and continues to rise. The EU-funded Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN) supports the most vulnerable refugee families in Türkiye with a debit card to cover basic needs such as food, rent, medicine and clothes.

ANKARA – The number of refugees in Türkiye receiving monthly cash assistance through an innovative relief programme reached 250,000 this week. The EU-funded Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN) supports the most vulnerable refugee families in Türkiye with a debit card to cover basic needs such as food, rent, medicine, fuel for heating and warm clothing for winter.

ANKARA – Thousands of refugees in Türkiye are receiving monthly cash assistance to help cover essential needs such as food, rent, medicine and warm clothing for winter through the Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN), a major innovative relief programme funded by the European Union.

Statement by Ertharin Cousin, Executive Director of the UN World Food Programme, in response to the European Union’s announcement of the Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN).

ANKARA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today welcomed a contribution of €40 million (US$43.8 million) from the European Union to continue and scale up vital assistance to Syrian refugees in Türkiye.

ROME – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced today that new funding, pledged during the “Supporting Syria and the Region Conference” in London earlier this month, will allow WFP to fully reinstate its food assistance to Syrians.