Funding crisis could cause food-aid shortage for Syrian refugees

(Image credit: Gokhan Sahin/Getty Images)

published 1 July 2015

The World Food Program has cut its food aid for Syrian refugees in Lebanon in half, and food support for refugees in Jordan may soon come to a standstill due to a funding crisis, the organization said today.

Lebanon and Jordan are two of the five nations that host over four million Syrian war refugees, and the U.N. refugee agency said that funding has dropped to dangerously low levels.

Drastic cutbacks at the strapped-for-cash WFP have been on the horizon for months, and the organization has already been forced to make cuts. This month, food aid in Lebanon will drop to $13.50 a person per month. Additionally, if funds do not arrive before August, 440,000 urban refugees in Jordan may also be at risk of losing food support. The WFP says it needs $139 million to continue support for Syrian refugees through September.