Syrians to lose WFP food assistance in January

Syrians to lose WFP food assistance in January

Food assistance across Syria will end in January due to a funding crunch that had already curtailed its aid programme in the war devastated country, the World Food Programme (WFP)said on Monday.

The organisation said a record level of humanitarian needs globally meant its donors are unable to provide the same level of support.

In September, WFP officials had warned that it required $134 million to provide food assistance for the next six months to combat hunger and malnutrition in 3.2 million people in Syria. In previous years, the organization had fed 5.5 million.

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The U.N. food body says over 12 million Syrians were in the grip of hunger in a country that had already significantly cut aid in recent years.

The WFP however said it would continue to support families affected by natural disasters through smaller programmes alongside maintaining some child nutrition and livelihood support schemes for farmers.

Over the last 10 years, WFP said it had spent $3 billion on delivering 4.8 million metric tons of food and over $300 million in cash-based assistance and $800 million in goods and services.