CERF allocates $3.3 million for humanitarian assistance to drought-affected populations in Syria
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A refugee boy in Syria [Photo: IRIN]
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10 November 2009: In response to a severe drought in Syria, CERF has allocated $3.3 million to UN humanitarian agencies in the country.
Drought has affected Syria since 2006 and this year’s drought is the third one in three consecutive years. According to the Government of Syria and according to two UN Assessment Missions in 2009, some 1.3 million inhabitants in the north east have been affected by this disaster. Over 800,000 people have lost almost all their livelihoods and face extreme hardship. Up to 80 percent of those severely affected live on a diet consisting of bread and sugared tea, which covers less than 53 percent of both caloric and protein requirements. People affected by drought are not able to sustain or restore their livelihood without emergency support including food aid, farming inputs, water assistance, animal feed, and other types of assistance.
Responding to the situation, the World Food Programme (WFP) will use $1.4 million to provide emergency food assistance to 42,000 drought-affected people including 5,500 families. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will use another $1.4 million to support livelihoods and food security of 11,000 drought-affected small-scale farmers. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has received $263,000 from CERF to provide therapeutic food to 1,500 malnourished children. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will receive $200,000 to provide sustainable access to clean drinking water for 400 households.
[Last update: 20 November 2009]