Emergency Food Assistance in response to the Syrian Crisis – WFP 2013

August 2013 - The humanitarian situation in Syria has rapidly deteriorated over the past year as a result of the civil war in the country. The United Nations estimates that 100 000 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands more wounded due to the violence. Within Syria some 6.8 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance 4.25 million of whom are internally displaced. In addition close to 2 million Syrian refugees are living in host countries in the region. By the end of 2013 the United Nations estimates that 10 million people in Syria will need humanitarian assistance and a further 3.55 million refugees from Syria will have fled to host countries whose resources are increasingly overstretched by the influx of people needing assistance. With the support of DFATD and other donors the World Food Programme is providing food assistance to an estimated 6.7 million people inside and outside Syria affected by the conflict in Syria. This will help reduce acute malnutrition and food shortages and protect livelihoods.

The expected outputs for this project include: food assistance delivered through designated distribution sites such as refugee camps and therapeutic feeding centres; assessments and responses improved and better targeted by using innovative technology; local and regional markets supported through local and regional purchase of food where appropriate; and supplementary feeding and nutritious supplementary foods provided to vulnerable groups including children pregnant and lactating women and female-headed households. The expected intermediate outcome is reduced vulnerability of crisis-affected people especially women and children.