In Numbers
722,368 people were assisted by WFP in April
USD 634 million directly injected into the Lebanese economy through the e-card platform since 2012
Highlights
In May, WFP assisted 722,368 beneficiaries: 691,933 Syrian refugees with USD 27 each, 20,435 Palestinian refugees from Syria, and 10,000 Lebanese and Syrian pupils with a school snack. 27,208 vulnerable Lebanese were also assisted through the National Poverty Targeting Programme (NPTP) to which WFP only provided technical support.
Situation Update
UNHCR registered around 1.1 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon. It is the world’s largest concentration of refugees compared to its population. The influx is placing significant strain on Lebanese resources and communities.
As the Syrian crisis continues, WFP - the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger - is increasingly relied upon to provide life-saving assistance to an extraordinary number of vulnerable refugees.
The 2015 multi-sectoral Vulnerability Assessment of Syrian Refugees (VASyR) in Lebanon shows a continued deterioration of the food security situation among refugees across the country compared to 2014.
Specifically:- 70 percent of households are below the poverty line (USD 3.84/person/day);
- 52 percent of households are below the survival minimum expenditure basket (the minimum food required to meet 2,100 kilocalories);
- 61 percent of households are applying emergency and crisis coping strategies;
- 11 percent of households are food insecure; and
- 23 percent of households are moderately food insecure.
Data collection for the 2016 VASyR started in May and will continue until Ramadan.
WFP and UNICEF are supporting a UNDP-led rapid poverty assessment of the Lebanese population. The assessment will contribute towards the creation of a food security baseline for Lebanese.