Ammon – The World Food Program in Jordan said that the “severe and unprecedented” funding shortage has forced it to significantly reduce its monthly food assistance to approximately 465,000 refugees, most of them Syrians.
In its monthly operations report, the World Food Program confirmed that it completed with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees last July their preparations to implement a new mechanism to re-target refugees in local communities as of August, which led to stopping the program’s assistance to approximately 50,000 refugees in an attempt to cover the needs for the months of August and September. In light of the limited funding, according to the Kingdom.
According to the report, the total number of refugees receiving assistance from the World Food Program will decrease by approximately 12%; From 465,000 to an estimated 410,000 beneficiaries by next September.
He explained that the financial contributions that were received recently from donors will enable him to provide food aid at low levels in September, leaving the funding gap at around $30 million for the period from October to December to continue providing reduced food aid.
The World Food Program continuously provided its monthly food assistance to beneficiary refugees for the period between January and July 2023 through cash transfers amounting to approximately $95 million.
Last July, the program provided assistance to 460,000 vulnerable refugees in camps and host communities, with a value of $10.5 million in cash transfers.
Of the total, approximately 40% of Syrian refugees receiving WFP assistance in communities and camps (approximately 175,000 beneficiaries) received cash assistance through mobile money transfers (e-wallets).
“High” debt levels
Aid from the World Food Program was reduced by a third for all beneficiaries in local communities (346,000 people) starting in July, and for all beneficiaries in camps (119,000 people) starting in August “due to lack of funding.”
The report indicated that, following the announcement of aid cuts and targeting, the program and UNHCR conducted joint community sessions across Jordan, in which refugees expressed their anger and frustration, and their concerns about high levels of debt, scarcity of job opportunities, and resorting to negative coping mechanisms such as child labor and marriage. early.
Monitoring results conducted by the World Food Program for the second quarter of 2023 (before the reduction in aid or the reduction of beneficiaries) showed that the general food security level of refugees was “stable” compared to 2022, however, female-headed households, the unemployed, and persons with disabilities remained People with disabilities are more vulnerable to food insecurity, which leads them to adopt negative coping mechanisms.
Jordan hosts the second highest proportion of refugees in the world per capita; There are approximately 660,000 Syrian refugees, and 80,000 refugees from other countries, according to statistics by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees at the end of July, which adds an “unprecedented burden” to Jordan’s budget, natural resources, infrastructure and labor market.
Within the framework of cooperation between the World Food Program and the Jordanian government in the field of supporting the National School Feeding Programme, the program and the Ministry of Education are preparing for the new school semester by procuring the food requirements required for school meals, while work continues on implementing the national school feeding strategy, which focuses on strengthening institutional capacities. to implement the national programme.
The program works in cooperation with the Jordanian Ministry of Agriculture to implement the priorities of the national strategy for food security through the establishment of the National Food Security Management Information System, which is expected to be completed in October, in addition to strengthening the governance of food security in Jordan. It was also agreed to implement a number of interventions aimed at reducing food waste within the framework of the “No Food Waste” initiative launched by the Ministry of Agriculture earlier.
Within the framework of its strategic plan in Jordan (2023-2027), the World Food Program offers a package of programs that seek to enhance food security through a set of direct support interventions and technical assistance in the field of food aid for refugees, strengthening national social protection systems, school feeding, and livelihood and management programs. Sustainable natural resources and the transformation of food systems.
The requirements of the WFP strategy in Jordan for the years (2023-2027) amount to approximately $997 million, of which $137 million was funded, while the requirements for the current year amount to $230 million.
