LOS ANGELES — The United Nation’s World Food Program has made the solemn announcement that it lacks the necessary funding to continue delivering adequate food rations to almost six million Syrians. For many in Syria, the WFP’s food aid is crucial. However, starting next month, food rations will be reduced, and will continue to be cut further in coming months.
“In October, WFP will be able to deliver 60 percent of what they have been delivering. In November, it will be down to 40 percent,” said John Ging, director of operations at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. “It is because the money is not coming in. This is devastating news for people who are aid-dependent.”
According to the WFP chief spokeswoman, Bettina Luescher, the WFP has received only $410 million of the $1 billion it requires for its emergency refugee programs. Luescher commented that other international crises, like Iraq and West Africa’s Ebola outbreak, have eaten up donors’ available funds. The head of the WFP, Ertharin Cousin, also spoke of the clash between dwindling donations and increasing demand, and estimated that the WFP will have to feed an extra million people in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, where many markets have closed due to the Ebola outbreak.
In November, funding will wane to providing only 825 calories for each Syrian on aid, an amount that is much lower than half the recommended daily amount. Not only that, but the rations will likely be dominated by cheaper and less nutritious foods.
“To cut back on food rations, the most basic thing, is absolutely heartbreaking. To somehow tell a mother that you will only get 800 calories a day, or you won’t get a voucher anymore is heartbreaking,” said Luescher. “We are so grateful for all the funding we’ve received, but it’s a nightmare situation for us right now.”
The three-month delay between the time when food supplies are purchased and when they are delivered on the ground means that “this will come at a time when the suffering is exacerbated by winter,” according to Ging. “We will find humanitarian agencies cutting down on aid deliveries when aid is needed more than ever. It is not just food, it is vital shelter material, clothing and supplies for water and sanitation.”
The WFP is suffering a $350 million deficiency in its programs for the country, and the slashes to food aid will be felt beyond Syria’s physical borders. In October, Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Jordan will receive diminished food vouchers for use in local markets. In Egypt, more than half of the 100,000 Syrian refugees who currently receive food aid will not be served, while in Iraq, a feeding program at school that benefitted 12,000 children has already been shut down.
“We have been gaining access for the first time to some besieged and hard to reach areas we have never been able to reach before. We have more access opportunities, but are not able to scale up because of funding. You can’t deliver what you don’t have,” said Ging.
The cuts to Syrian food rations are not an isolated situation—worldwide, funding shortfalls have resulted in drastic slashes to food aid for displaced people. Lack of donations, in addition to rising need, has left the WFP with no choice but to reduce aid to refugees in Darfur and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The WFP is funded by international organizations, U.N. member states, and private donations, with the U.S., U.K. and United Arab Emirates being its top Syrian funders. According to its current budget projections, the agency will need to somehow raise a weekly $35 million to continue the food aid it currently has in place.
“We heard today that underfunding remains the main obstacle to providing humanitarian aid to Syrians. The countries that are used to boasting in their statements about their will to donate funds have not done so and this must be admitted,” said Syrian ambassador Houssam Eldin Alaa.
– Annie Jung
Sources: Reuters, ABC, NY Times, Dispatch, UPI, World Bulletin
Photo: Flickr