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UN Says Syria Funding “Bleak”

UN Says Syria Funding “Bleak”
UN Says Syria Funding “Bleak”

Funding prospects are “bleak” and impoverished Syrian refugees face more cuts in food aid, the head of the World Food Program said in an interview, after inspecting the bare refrigerator of a refugee family and meeting boys forced to swap school for work to help their families survive.

Ertharin Cousin, the UN agency’s executive director, called on donor countries to give more to millions displaced by the Syria conflict, now in its fifth year, AP reported.

“We need everyone to recognize that we as a global community must continue to stand by these families, these children, until the political situation is solved,” she said after meeting with refugees in the Jordanian capital Amman.

“We are asking the community of donors and taxpayers around the world ... to continue to assist us … Children must eat every day, a mother must cook and put food on the table every night.”

Since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011, more than four million Syrians have fled to neighboring countries. About 630,000 have found refuge in Jordan, with the vast majority living in poverty in local communities rather than in three refugee camps. Other host countries include Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt.

In Jordan, some 440,000 refugees currently receive WFP food vouchers, with aid scaled back repeatedly in recent months.

About 211,000 food aid recipients, considered the most vulnerable, get $14 per person per month, and that level of funding is secured through November, the WFP said.

 

Financialtribune.com