Following 12 years of fighting, economic hardships, and last month’s earthquake, the World Food Program said on Wednesday that hunger and malnutrition are rapidly increasing and that more than half of the population is food insecure.
Corrine Fleischer, the head of the UN office for the Middle East, said that the situation in Syria is worse.
According to an estimate by the World Food Programme, 5.5% of Syria’s population of about 12.1 million are food insecure and 2.9% are at risk of hunger.
According to current statistics, the rates of stunting, maternal malnutrition, and other kinds of malnutrition are at all-time highs.
“We are particularly concerned about the rise in hunger in Syria,” Fleischer said.
In addition to the social and economic problems caused by 12 years of fighting and a depreciating Syrian pound, at least 53,000 people were killed by an earthquake in Syria and Turkey in February.
Prior to the earthquake, the chief of the WFP urged to authorities in northwest Syria, where insurgents are at battle with soldiers loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, to stop restricting access to the area.
Currently, help is being sent to the northwest of Syria through three Turkish border crossings.
We need the creation of internal crossing locations. Fleischer remarked, “This is now being discussed with local officials on the ground.
If additional donor funds do not materialize by July, the WFP has indicated it would be forced to drastically reduce the number of people it helps.
