In Numbers

5.2 m people assisted in September 2022 (based on dispatches)

39,760 mt of food assistance distributed

US$ 3.6 m cash-based transfers made

US$ 811.1 m six months (October 2022 – March 2023) net funding requirements

Operational Updates

• In September, WFP delivered food and nutrition assistance to 5.2 million people across its general food assistance (GFA), school feeding, nutrition, livelihoods, resilience and social safety nets activities across all 14 Syrian governorates. This includes food delivered through the cross-border operation from Turkey to areas of Idlib and western rural Aleppo governorates not accessible from inside Syria.

• The seventh cross-line convoy was completed on 18 September, going from government-held Aleppo city to opposition-controlled Sarmada city in north-western Syria. The inter-agency convoy carried food rations for families and nutrition items for children under two years old. On 28 September, WFP completed distributions of these items, reaching 37,260 cross-line beneficiaries in 54 locations in non-government controlled areas of north-western Syria.

• On 19 September 2022, the Central Bank of Syria (CBS) devalued the official exchange rate for the second time this year. The new official exchange rate is SYP 3,015/USD (a 7 percent devaluation). This will make domestic food prices more expensive for Syrians. As of August 2022, prices in Syria were 36 percent higher than February 2022 (start of the Ukraine crisis) and 85 percent higher than the same time last year, according to the latest WFP data.

• The implementation of the sixth round of the Food Security Assessment (FSA) across government-held areas, as well as the Food Security and Livelihood Assessment (FSLA) in non-government held areas has begun. For the first time ever, the FSA/FSLA study will collect information on the nutrition status for pregnant women, nursing mothers as well as for children under 5 years old. The study results will provide WFP with updates on the food security situation in Syria and support estimation of number of people in need for the upcoming 2023 Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO).

• On 6 September, WFP-led United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) flights to and from Aleppo airport were cancelled again after missile strikes targeted the vicinity of the airport in Aleppo. This was the second time in the space of one week where the previous strikes occurred on 31 August. UNHAS flights resumed on 10 September upon the re-opening of the airport. UNHAS is a critical service for the humanitarian operation. It is the basis upon which staff deploy and move, and it is also a vessel for humanitarian assistance.

• An ongoing cholera outbreak in Syria is believed to be linked to the irrigation of crops with contaminated water, as well as people drinking from the Euphrates River. Cases were identified throughout Syria and mainly in the north and east. The outbreak is an indicator of severe water shortages.

Source: World Food Programme