BEIRUT: The World Food Program remains in dire financial straits as after a brief suspension this winter, monthly assistance to Syrian refugees in Lebanon was again cut last month. For now, the agency runs a precarious and fluctuating operation battling broken promises from donors and the exorbitant cost of assisting millions of refugees.
In December, the WFP was forced to halt aid to Syrian refugees across the region after promised funding did not materialize. The announcement came with the onset of winter, a difficult time for Lebanon’s refugee population, which is concentrated at higher altitudes in the north and east of the country.
But when some donors reneged on pledges, the WFP was left with no other recourse. Though it was able to quickly resume distribution after a social media campaign covered the $64 million shortfall, the episode underscored the extent to which its services are beholden to the continued generosity of donors.
“When we have physical funds, we spend them immediately,” Dina al-Kassaby, a regional communications officer for the WFP, explained. “In an ideal situation we’d have the funding ... but we’ve been running a hand-to-mouth operation – we’re supporting nearly six million people in Syria and neighboring countries.”
The cost of providing such relief is enormous. The WFP is currently spending $25 million a week on food aid, according to Kassaby.
“Pledges are made from specific countries and donors. In December, those pledges weren’t met. Luckily, we got some big contributions from people around the world.”
“It is important that countries and donors fulfill their [pledges]. It’s not that they haven’t been extremely generous – we’ve been able to run continuously, except for [during] December, because of their generosity.”
Many donors do continue to contribute. In February, State Department representative Kelly Clements announced that the U.S. would contribute a further $125 million to the WFP. More than $70 million will go toward the agency’s electronic voucher program.
“We will continue working through all possible channels to provide aid to those in need, wherever they reside,” Clements told reporters, according to Agence France Presse.
But even such large contributions do not cover the agency’s obligations. That same month, refugees in Lebanon saw the food aid deposited to their electronic vouchers cut from $27 a month to just $19.
“Right now they are receiving reduced assistance,” Kassaby said. “The [initial] value of vouchers was originally calculated to provide 2,100 kilocalories per person, per day – an international standard. Now it won’t provide that much, but it is a means to get some food.”
Last month, UNICEF warned that preliminary studies indicated nearly 2,000 Syrian refugee children in Lebanon are affected by severe acute malnutrition. Disease and unsafe drinking water are the major contributing factors, but in some cases WFP vouchers are all that stand between refugees and more widespread suffering.
According to Kassaby, “the reduced-value voucher [gives] life-saving food assistance for people with no other means.”
The WFP has begun rationing its resources and has initiated a process of prioritizing those most in need, conducting assessments on the vulnerability of refugees in various host countries and sending teams to monitor changing conditions in refugee communities. Such steps allow them to more efficiently allocate diminishing resources.
“Across the region we are reducing the amount of food assistance to refugees. [We are] a needs-based operation and we have to support the most vulnerable [groups].”
In Lebanon, 906,000 Syrian refugees currently receive support from the WFP and conditions in the country make them among the region’s most vulnerable.
“There aren’t refugee camps where people can live for free, there aren’t many jobs, so they are very vulnerable in Lebanon,” Kassaby said.
“We try to make sure refugees won’t fall into food insecurity, [or suffer from] malnutrition. That’s our biggest responsibility.”
“The challenges are huge, but we’re doing the best we can.”
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