WFP to reinstate food aid to 229,000 Syrian refugees

AMMAN — As a result of contributions from various donors, the World Food Programme (WFP) will be able to reinstate food assistance to 229,000 vulnerable Syrian refugees who have been without assistance since September this year, according to a statement from the agency.

The vulnerable refugees living in Jordanian communities, whose food assistance was cancelled earlier this year, will now have their e-cards uploaded with JD10 per person per month.

Furthermore, the WFP will be able to increase the value of its food assistance from JD10 to JD15 to extremely vulnerable refugees. The value of a full voucher is set at JD20.

With the current funding, the WFP will be able to maintain these levels of assistance until January 2016. 

However, the agency continues to struggle “to run the operation based on predictable sources of funding” so that it can “continue to meet the food needs of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees on a regular basis”, the statement said.

The WFP added that the suffering of Syrian refugees can only be alleviated by a viable political solution to the conflict. However, it insisted that the international community has a “moral obligation” to ensure that the basic needs of refugees are met. 

The programme is funded entirely by voluntary contributions and needs to raise $15 million (approximately JD10.6 million) each month in order to meet the basic food needs of Syrian refugees in the Kingdom.

The statement highlighted the fact that, due to lack of assistance, refugees have been forced to take “extreme measures including going back to Syria. They are going back to what they were running from in the first place.” 

It also emphasised the fact that “the number of Syrian refugees risking their lives to cross the Mediterranean in search of refuge in Europe has increased fourfold compared to last year.” 

The WFP conducts regular monitoring, surveys and focus groups in Jordan to measure the impact of the reduction in assistance on refugees.

The agency has previously had to make deep cuts in its programme in the country due to funding shortages. 

In January 2015, the agency was forced to cut the level of assistance for 450,000 Syrian refugees from the planned JD20 to JD13 per person per month. It has been repeatedly forced to reduce assistance throughout 2015 in order to stretch resources out for a longer period of time.