Vulnerability Assessment of Syrian Refugees
Vulnerability Assessment of Syrian Refugees (VASyR) is a joint multi-sectoral assessment of the living conditions of Syrian refugees in Lebanon that UNHCR, UNICEF and WFP have conducted for the past four years. VASyR is the most comprehensive survey of its kind. It focuses on economic vulnerability, education, food security, health, livelihoods, protection, shelter and WASH to help informed decision making and programme design of assistance providers.
Food security findings
Food security of Syrian refugees worsened over the year. In 2016, 93 percent of refugee households are estimated to have some degree of food insecurity – an increase of 4 percent compared to 2015. The generous donor contributions made in early 2016 allowed a return to the full voucher value provided by WFP, slowing down the pace of deterioration. Food security analyses use a composite indicator that considers food consumption, food expenditure share and coping strategies. Households are categorised in four groups according to severity – food secure, mildly food insecure, moderately food insecure and severely food insecure. The majority of households – 58 percent – fall in the mild food insecurity category, whilst 34 percent are moderately food insecure and 1.6 percent severely food insecure.
Households headed by women were more food insecure (96 percent) than the households headed by men (92 percent).
The most food insecure districts are Akkar, Baalbek, Hermel, Marjaayoun, Nabatieh, Tyre and Zahle. Apart from Hermel, in all of these districts the percentage of households with severe and moderate food insecurity significantly increased in 2016.