Almost 3.8 million people in Syria are at risk of losing World Food Programme assistance by July if additional funding is not secured, a leading official with the UN organisation said in Dubai on Wednesday.
Despite a 40 per cent increase in its annual budget for 2023, the food agency is at “half rations” in Yemen and Syria, warned WFP Mena regional director Corinne Fleischer.
The WFP provides aid to 13 million people in Yemen and to seven million in Syria.
In Syria, the rates of malnutrition are the highest they've been since the country's civil war began in 2011, Ms Fleischer told a media briefing.
“Conflict feeds hunger,” she said.
“We can't continue to feed the same people every month and then add more people.
“We need governments to take care of their own people again through their own social protection systems and we start reducing the needs.”
An already desperate situation caused by the 12-year war in Syria was exacerbated by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake on February 6 that killed more than 6,000 people in the north of the country.
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This image of Jinan Sari protecting her brother as they both lay trapped under the rubble was widely circulated on social media. Photo: @mhdksafa / Twitter -
Jinan and her brother Abdul-Fatah stayed at Harem Central Hospital for a month after they were pulled out from the rubble. Abd Almajed Alkarh / The National -
Jinan with a new toy brought to her in hospital. Abd Almajed Alkarh / The National -
Abdul-Fatah's is suffering from crush syndrome after being trapped in the rubble for 22 hours. Abd Almajed Alkarh / The National -
A nurse observes Jinan's status and her biomarkers. Abd Almajed Alkarh / The National -
Jinan looks at her brother in hospital. Abd Almajed Alkarh / The National -
Abdul-Fatah is 18-month-old and is recovering from his injuries. Abd Almajed Alkarh / The National -
Jinan and Abdul-Fattah have lost their parents and all of their five siblings in the earthquake. Abd Almajed Alkarh / The National -
They now live with their grandmother Soa'ad Al Ahmed in a temporary tent shelter. Abd Almajed Alkarh for The National -
Jinan is happy because her foot is recovering. Abd Almajed Alkarh / The National -
They lived with their family in Atareb, in Aleppo, before the earthquake struck last month. Abd Almajed Alkarh / The National -
Jinan helps her brother stand as he still has bandages on his feet. Their grandmother is concerned she may not be able to take care of them well enough as she is getting older. Abd Almajed Alkarh / The National -
Jinan uses a walker outside her tent. Abd Almajed Alkarh / The National
The WFP requires $150 million to support people in Syria for the next six months with post-earthquake assistance — but only 16 per cent of that amount is funded, Ms Fleischer said.
A UN inquiry found the regime of Syria's President Bashar Al Assad and the UN itself were guilty of delays in aid to Syria after the earthquake.
The UN commission of inquiry said on Monday there had been a “wholesale failure” by the Syrian government and international community to provide immediate assistance to Syria.
In February, the WFP called for more urgency in global response to the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, saying the disaster had put extra strain on an already stretched region.
In south-eastern Turkey, more than 44,000 people were killed by the quake.
“We need governments to respond to our appeal for funding,” Walid Ibrahim, network coordinator of the WFP-managed UN Humanitarian Response Depot in Dubai told The National earlier.
