UN agency reaches ‘record’ number of Syrians with food, but many remain cut off
November 02, 2013: The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said that it is
reaching close to 3.3 million people in Syria – a record for its operations – but
many are still without food in areas cut off by fighting, particularly in Damascus
and the capital’s besieged suburbs.
“WFP is concerned about the fate of many
Syrians trapped in conflict areas and still in need of urgent food assistance,” spokesperson
Elisabeth Byrs told journalists in Geneva. “Some 3.3 million has reached in October,
but the overall target for WFP for the entire Syria was to reach four million people
by the end of December 2013,” the spokesperson added.
Damascus and Rural Damascus
remain one of WFP’s biggest challenges due to insecurity and the siege in many conflict
areas. People are still trapped in Moadamiyeh, she noted, but the UN agency has not
been able to enter the area. “WFP and UN partners had made nine unsuccessful attempts
to reach Moadamiyeh and could not confirm what exactly was happening in that area,”
the spokesperson said.
Since mid-2012, WFP had been unable to access 37 other
locations, such as Daraya, Yarmouk, Hajar Aswad, Yalda, Babila, Sbineh, Douma, Jobar,
Qaboon, Zamalka and Erbeen. These are some of the most deprived areas where “even
the most basic items were in scarce supply”, the spokesperson noted. More than a dozen
trucks with supplies are en route to the capital Aleppo, carrying enough food for
75,000 people as part of the Governorate’s October allocation. Despite the allocations,
the city is one of the Governorates where food distribution has become difficult in
recent months.
More children are being admitted to hospitals with acute and
moderate malnutrition, the UN Children’s Fund said, also addressing the press. “The
most difficult challenge in helping those children was access,” said UNICEF spokeswoman
Marixie Mercado. The community is also grappling with a lack of skilled professionals
to deal with malnutrition. (Source: UN)