Brussels, 09/12/2014 (Agence Europe) - The World Food Programme (WFP) which had to suspend its aid to Syrian refugees for lack of funds, announced on Tuesday 9 December that it was reinstating food assistance, much to the relief of the European Commission, a partner of the WFP, and the EU.
The previous day, European Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Commissioner Christos Stylianides expressed his concern at the sudden suspension of aid and announced the immediate allocation of €5.5 million to fund WFP activities, and called on the international community and EU member states also to show generosity.
“I am deeply concerned by the World Food Programme's suspension of food assistance for more than 1.7 million Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries. The EU is appalled by the sudden break in the WFP's pipeline of food and subsistence items especially at the onset of winter. We are pursuing all avenues to increase the mobilisation of resources. We will allocate immediately an additional amount of €5.5 million in humanitarian funding to WFP, bringing our overall funding of WFP for Syria up to €18 million in 2014”, said the commissioner.
Including the funding for the other humanitarian partners active in the region (UN organisations and NGOs), the Commission “will disburse more than €155 million this year. But clearly it is not sufficient”, Stylianides said. On Tuesday 9 December, he will travel with EU High Representative Federica Mogherini to Turkey, a country hosting many Syrian refugees. An increase in humanitarian aid has been announced (see other article). The call for donations made by the WFP to raise $64 million exceeded all hopes. The $80 million gathered will allow the WFP to provide assistance for refugees until the end of December and perhaps a little beyond, says the UN organisation in a press release. (AN)