Funding constraints remain amidst a deterioration in food security for Syrian refugees
REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS:
WFP's ongoing efforts to continuously assess the vulnerability of the refugee population remains the basis against which assistance is channelled to those most in need. However, limited resources continued to result in reduced levels of support even to the most vulnerable Syrian families in June.
In Jordan, support provided to 240,000 vulnerable and 190,000 extremely vulnerable refugees was reduced by 50 and 25 per cent respectively of what it was in April. Further cuts have, however, been announced for refugees living in urban areas. Several discussions have been held with donors, partners and the Government of Jordan, including on alternative mechanisms to provide refugees access to resources. Contingency plans on how best to support refugees in such a situation are being discussed.
In Lebanon, levels of assistance to approximately 877,000 Syrian refugees remained at USD 19, below the USD 27 planned value for 2015. Further cuts are foreseen in July when the e-card value is expected to further decrease by 30 per cent (USD 13.5), 50 per cent of the original plan. The food sector is engaged in contingency planning efforts to work to fill gaps where possible.
In Egypt, the reduced voucher remained at USD 17 per person per month instead of the USD 24 foreseen for 2015. The food sector continues to shift from geographical to vulnerability targeting by using a targeting methodology based on a combination of food consumption score, an assessment of refugees' coping strategies and food Minimum Expenditure Basket (MEB).
In Iraq, refugees received vouchers valued at USD 19 per person. The voucher value was originally reduced in February from USD 28.20 and will remain at US$19 per person in July due to continued funding constraints.
In Turkey, food assistance has until now only been provided to camp-based Syrian refugees. Considering that the majority of the camp-based beneficiaries rely on ecards as their primary source of food, further cuts in assistance may jeopardize much of the progress made to address the growing food requirements. At the same time, a pre-assistance and targeting exercise for the off-camp population programme started in early June