BEIRUT – The United Nations World Food Programme on Monday suspended a food voucher program serving more than 1.7 million Syrian refugees, citing a funding crisis after many donors failed to meet their commitments.
Cutting the program, which provides Syrian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt with electronic vouchers to buy food in local shops, means that “many families will go hungry,” the U.N. agency said in a statement.
“The suspension of WFP food assistance will be disastrous for many already suffering families,” said WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin, adding it will also “endanger the health and safety of these refugees and will potentially cause further tensions, instability and insecurity in the neighbouring host countries.”
In May, Dina Elkassaby, a public information officer with the World Food Programme, told Global News that the electronic vouchers, which look like credit cards and can be used at many participating stores, make life much easier for refugees.
“The idea is that a refugee can go shop comfortably and they can shop discreetly and it helps maintain their dignity in a public setting,” she said. The cards also enable refugees to spend part of their ration money at a time, rather than paper vouchers, which often have to be spent in specific denominations. The card can also be loaded automatically, saving the refugee a monthly trip to pick up new vouchers.
Syria’s 3 1/2-year-long civil war has killed more than 200,000 people and touched off a massive humanitarian crisis, forcing more than 3 million to seek refuge abroad and displacing another 6.5 million within the country. Trying to meet the needs of those affected by the crisis has put a tremendous strain on countries that have taken in refugees, as well as organizations that provide humanitarian assistance.
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Cousin said that many donors have not honoured their commitments, leaving the agency’s Syria emergency operations in critical need of funding. WFP said it requires $64 million to support Syrian refugees in December alone.
The U.N. agency said that if funding comes through, it will immediately resume the voucher program.
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