Funding crunch forces WFP to scale back food assistance to Syrian refugees in Jordan

AMMAN — The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced that 21,000 Syrian refugees will no longer receive their monthly food assistance as of July following a prioritisation exercise driven by a shortage of funds. 

Recent contributions from donors have averted wide-scale cuts that would have affected a larger number of people, but resources still fall well short of meeting the needs of all vulnerable refugees in Jordan, according to a WFP statement. 

WFP urgently needs $58 million to continue food assistance until the end of the year for the half million refugees it supports. 

“Desperate times call for desperate measures. We have to make some difficult choices to stretch the limited resources we have and ensure that we meet the needs of the most vulnerable refugees. These are families who cannot put food on the table without WFP assistance”, said Alberto Correia Mendes, WFP Representative and Country Director in Jordan. 

“These are painful choices. What’s more, if we do not receive further contributions. we may find ourselves having to cut food assistance for another quarter of a million refugees living outside the camps by September,” Mendes added.

The cuts are coming at the worst time for families, when many are struggling to earn money or have lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A recent WFP survey revealed that 68 per cent of the refugees have seen their income drop since the beginning of the pandemic, said the statement.

Food insecurity among refugees in Jordan has doubled in the last year to reach 25 per cent. Two in three refugees – 64 per cent – are on the edge of food insecurity. 

Refugee families consider WFP’s assistance a lifeline. Refugees living in Zaatari and Azraq camps and extremely vulnerable families living in local communities receive $32 (JD23) per person each month, while refugees living outside camps who are classified as vulnerable receive monthly assistance of $21 (JD15) per person. 

WFP urgently requires funding to continue assistance to vulnerable refugees, to stop families falling into further food insecurity and deeper poverty. WFP is working closely with partners including the Jordanian Government, donors, UN agencies and NGOs to raise the required funds, read the statement.

“We are grateful to our donors for their long-standing support to Syrian refugees in Jordan over the last decade. Many of these refugees are now more vulnerable than ever, reeling from the economic impact of COVID-19, which has pushed hundreds of thousands into an ever more desperate situation and increased their humanitarian needs,” said Mendes. 

“We count on our donor support more than ever,” Mendes concluded.