UN warns funding gap threatens vital food assistance in Syria

The World Food Programme said on Wednesday it had halved emergency food assistance in Syria due to funding shortages, warning that millions remained vulnerable despite signs of stabilisation in parts of the country.

The U.N. agency's biggest donor, the United States, has slashed its foreign aid under President Donald Trump, and other countries have also made or announced cuts in development and humanitarian assistance.  

The WFP said in a statement the number of people receiving emergency food aid in Syria fell to 650,000 in May from 1.3 million, while scaling back operations in all 14 Syrian governorates to just seven.

Meanwhile, 7.2 million people in Syria remain acutely food insecure, including 1.6 million facing severe hunger, the WFP said. Many households were already reducing meal portions, eating less nutritious food or skipping meals altogether, it added.

“The reduction in WFP’s assistance is driven solely by funding constraints, not by a decrease in needs,” Marianne Ward, the WFP’s country director in Syria, said in the statement.

The WFP also halted a bread subsidy programme that had supported more than 300 bakeries with fortified wheat flour, helping provide subsidised bread to up to four million people daily in some of Syria’s most vulnerable areas.

Syria has faced a deep economic crisis after more than a decade of conflict that devastated infrastructure, displaced millions and battered livelihoods. Although fighting has eased in many parts of the country since the ouster of former President Bashar al-Assad at the end of 2024, aid agencies say humanitarian needs remain severe.

The WFP said it requires $189 million between June and November to sustain and restore assistance inside Syria.

It said funding shortages were also affecting Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries.

In Jordan, the agency halted cash-based food assistance for 135,000 Syrian refugees living in host communities, while maintaining reduced support for around 85,000 refugees in camps. In Egypt, support for 20,000 Syrians has been reduced, while many refugee households in Lebanon remain heavily dependent on aid.