Highlights
In September, WFP assisted 703,185 people: 650,282 Syrian refugees, 15,344 Palestinian refugees from Syria and 37,559 vulnerable Lebanese were assisted through the Government of Lebanon’s National Poverty Targeting Programme (NPTP).
Extensive preparations are underway for the new e-card distributions in October. WFP and its partners will replace all existing blue e-cards with new red e-cards which will be used by UNHCR, UNICEF, Lebanese Cash Consortium and WFP.
WFP Assistance
WFP’s Regional Emergency Operation 200433 (EMOP) to provide relief for Syrian refugees in the region has been ongoing since June 2012.
WFP implements an electronic food voucher (e-card) system in collaboration with Banque LibanoFrançaise as its primary form of food assistance for vulnerable Syrians in Lebanon. E-cards used to purchase food from any of 450 shops, boosting the local economy and providing Syrians with access to fresh produce, dairy products, poultry and meats. In September, 650,282 Syrian refugees received USD 27 each on their e-cards.
WFP prioritises food assistance to ensure it is reaching those who are most in need. The preliminary results of the latest vulnerability assessment of Syrian refugees in Lebanon state that 93 percent of Syrian refugees in Lebanon are food insecure, meaning that they do not have access to enough safe and nutritious food to live a healthy life.
However, increased food assistance since early 2016, thanks to generous and timely donor contributions prevented a sharp deterioration like that seen in 2015. Whilst WFP can financially maintain that level of increased food assistance for 750,000 refugees until December, uncertainty beyond the end of the year means it cannot assure food security improvements in 2017.
WFP is providing technical assistance to the Ministry of Social Affairs to implement its National Poverty Targeting Programme (NPTP). By the end of 2016, WFP will be providing food assistance to 52,000 vulnerable Lebanese.
In collaboration with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), WFP also supports 20,000 Palestinian refugees formerly based in Syria through a similar cash programme.
A pilot livelihoods project continues with Mercy Corps International, focusing on: providing agricultural improvement packages to refugees; training Lebanese and Syrian refugee households led by women on financial resource management; providing agricultural packages to small-holder farmers; and rehabilitating agricultural infrastructure through labour-intensive cash-for-work activities for Lebanese and Syrians refugees.
Thanks to the record contribution from Germany pledged at the London Conference as well as continued support and solid forecasts from other donors, WFP’s emergency response inside Syria and the five neighbouring countries is fully covered until the end of 2016.
Operational Updates
WFP’s school meals programme re-started in late September, benefitting 10,000 Lebanese and Syrian primary school children in 13 schools. For each day that pupils attend, they receive a locally produced nutritious snack which encourages enrolment and attendance rates. Additionally, the programme aims to reduce students’ short-term hunger and improve their nutritional intake.
Since 2012, WFP has directly injected USD 720 million into the Lebanese economy through the ecard programme.
WFP’s shop selection process is ongoing. To date, 399 shops have been selected for new contracts, one third of which are new. Over the coming months, the process will prioritise shops in catchment areas with gaps. The process is part of a wider retail strategy which aims to maximise purchasing power of Syrian refugees.