EU supports WFP distribute food to drought affected populations in Syria

With the support of the EU, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has started distributing emergency food assistance to almost 200,000 people in the rural northeast of Syria, where the drought of 2009 has severely affected small-scale farmers and herding families.

An EU Delegation press release said that thanks to donations from the European Commission Humanitarian Aid Department (ECHO) as well as other organizations and countries, the WFP will provide families with a two-month food ration that includes rice, bulgur, oil, wheat flour, chickpeas and salt. The UN food agency has so far received US$8.2 million out of the required US$22 million needed to provide food assistance to up to 300,000 people.

In addition, the WFP will start distributing supplementary feeding rations to children under five, and to pregnant and nursing mothers in Al-Shadadi district of Al-Hasakeh, one of the worst-affected areas with the highest rate of migration and school closures.

--
WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. In 2010 WFP 
aims to feed more than 90 million people in 73 countries. 
WFP now provides RSS feeds to help journalists keep up with the latest press releases, 
videos and photos as they are published on WFP.org. 
For more details see: http://www.wfp.org/rss