Beirut: Umm Khalid barely leaves the tent where she lives in the northwest Syria, and she says she doesn’t pay attention to the news. But she knows a reason why feeding herself and her kids is getting harder and harder: Ukraine,
“Prices are rising, and this has been happening to us since the start of the war in Ukraine,” said the 40-year-old, who lives in a tent camp for displaced people in a previous rebel-held enclave in Syria. The last six years since fleeing the onslaught of the government.
Food prices around the world were already rising, but the war in Ukraine has accelerated the rise since Russia’s invasion began on February 24. The impact is worsening the already alarming situation of the millions of Syrians who have been evicted from their homes in their country’s now 11-year run. Old Civil War.
The rebel enclave in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib is packed with some 4 million people, most of whom have fled from other parts of the country. Most depend on international aid to survive, from food and shelter to medical care and education.
Due to rising prices, some aid agencies are reducing their food aid. The largest provider, the United Nations World Food Programme, began this week to cut the size of monthly rations given to 1.35 million people in the region.
The Ukraine crisis has also created a new group of refugees. European countries and the US have rushed to help more than 5.5 million Ukrainians who have fled to neighboring countries, as well as more than 7 million displaced within Ukraine’s borders.
Aid agencies are hoping to turn the world’s attention back to Syria at a two-day donor conference for humanitarian aid to the Syrian people starting Monday in Brussels, organized by the United Nations and the European Union. Funding also goes to aid the 5.7 million Syrian refugees living in neighboring countries, particularly Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan.
Last year, the European Union, the United States and other countries pledged $6.4 billion to help Syrians and neighboring countries hosting refugees. But it fell far short of the $10 billion sought by the United Nations – and its effects were felt on the ground. In Idlib, 10 of its 50 medical centers lost funding in 2022, forcing them to cut services dramatically, Amnesty International said in a report released Thursday.
The Norwegian Refugee Council said people across Syria have been forced to eat less. The group surveyed several hundred households across the country and found that 87 percent were skipping meals to meet other living costs.
“As the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine continues to attract world attention, the meeting of donors and governments in Brussels should not forget about their commitment to Syria,” said the NRC’s Middle East regional director. Carsten Hansen said in a report on Thursday.
The UN children’s agency UNICEF said more than 6.5 million children in Syria need assistance, the most recorded since the start of the conflict. It said that more than 13,000 children have been confirmed killed or injured since 2011.
Meanwhile, UNICEF said funding for humanitarian work in Syria was rapidly dwindling, adding that it had received less than half of its funding requirements for this year. “We urgently need about $20 million for cross-border operations in Syria,” the agency said in a statement.
Umm Khalid is among those who depend on food aid. With her help rations low, she is in debt to feed her family.
In 2016, her husband and eldest son were killed in an airstrike by the Syrian government in her home city of Aleppo. Soon after, she fled with her three surviving children to the rebel enclave in Idlib province. Since then, they have been living in a tent camp with other displaced people on the outskirts of the city of Atmeh near the Turkish border.
Her family eats twice a day – a small breakfast and a main meal in the afternoon which serves as lunch and dinner. His only income comes from picking olives for a few weeks a year, making 20 Turkish lira ($1.35) a day.
“We used to get enough rice, bulgur, dal and others. Now they keep reducing them,” she said by telephone from the camp. He spoke on the condition that his full name was not made public for fear of repercussions. She lives with her two daughters, aged six and 16, and a son, aged 12, who suffered head and arm injuries in the attack that killed her brother and father.
According to aid group Mercy Corps, the price of essential food items in northwestern Syria has already risen between 22% and 67% since the start of the Ukraine conflict. There has also been a reduction in sunflower oil, sugar and flour.
Mercy Corps provides cash assistance to buy food and other necessities for displaced Syrians and says it has no plans to reduce the amount.
“Even before the war in Ukraine, bread was already becoming increasingly ineffective,” said Mercy Corps Syria Country Director, Kieran Barnes, Most of the wheat brought into northwestern Syria is of Ukrainian origin, and the region does not produce enough wheat for its needs.
“With a huge gap between the resources and the needs of millions of people around the world, the world is witnessing a year of catastrophic hunger,” said wfp Spokesperson Abir Etefa.
He said that in many of its actions around the world, WFP is reducing the size of the rations it provides. Starting this month in northwestern Syria, provisions will drop from 1,340 to 1,177 calories a day. The food basket will continue to provide a mix of items including wheat flour, rice, chickpeas, lentils, bulgur wheat, sugar and oil.
Etefa said rising prices have increased the cost of WFP’s food aid by 51% since 2019 and that costs are likely to be even higher.
Earlier in the year, before the Ukraine conflict broke out, a 29% jump in costs prompted the Czech aid agency People in Need to switch from providing food packages to giving food vouchers. A spokesperson told the Associated Press that the vouchers, which cost $60, buy food less than the group’s target level, but that it had to take steps to “maximize its coverage of food aid for the most vulnerable.”
As the world turns to other conflicts, “Syria is on the verge of becoming another forgotten crisis,” said Joyce, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs. masuya Warn at the end of April.
In northwestern Syria, “a staggering 4.1 million people” are in need of humanitarian aid, Msuya said – not just food, but medicines, blankets, school supplies and shelter. He said that about a million people in the region, mainly women and children, live in tents, “half of whom live beyond their normal lifespan.”
Many fear the situation could only worsen in July, as Russia could force international aid to the northwest through parts of Syria under the control of its ally, President Bashar Assad.
Currently, aid enters the Idlib enclave directly from Turkey via a border crossing, the Bab al-Hawa. The UN mandate allowing deliveries through Bab el-Hawa expires on July 9, and Russia has indicated it will veto security Council resolve to renew the mandate.
A Russian veto would effectively hand Assad control over the flow of aid to the opposition enclave, and the US and EU have previously warned they would stop funding in that case.
The result would be a serious humanitarian crisis, possibly triggering a new influx of Syrian migrants into Turkey and Europe, the German Institute for International and Security Affairs warned in a report.
Umm Khalid said that he had no option but to bear his deteriorating living conditions.
“They keep lowering our food basket,” she said. “God protect us if they cut it all off.”
“Prices are rising, and this has been happening to us since the start of the war in Ukraine,” said the 40-year-old, who lives in a tent camp for displaced people in a previous rebel-held enclave in Syria. The last six years since fleeing the onslaught of the government.
Food prices around the world were already rising, but the war in Ukraine has accelerated the rise since Russia’s invasion began on February 24. The impact is worsening the already alarming situation of the millions of Syrians who have been evicted from their homes in their country’s now 11-year run. Old Civil War.
The rebel enclave in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib is packed with some 4 million people, most of whom have fled from other parts of the country. Most depend on international aid to survive, from food and shelter to medical care and education.
Due to rising prices, some aid agencies are reducing their food aid. The largest provider, the United Nations World Food Programme, began this week to cut the size of monthly rations given to 1.35 million people in the region.
The Ukraine crisis has also created a new group of refugees. European countries and the US have rushed to help more than 5.5 million Ukrainians who have fled to neighboring countries, as well as more than 7 million displaced within Ukraine’s borders.
Aid agencies are hoping to turn the world’s attention back to Syria at a two-day donor conference for humanitarian aid to the Syrian people starting Monday in Brussels, organized by the United Nations and the European Union. Funding also goes to aid the 5.7 million Syrian refugees living in neighboring countries, particularly Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan.
Last year, the European Union, the United States and other countries pledged $6.4 billion to help Syrians and neighboring countries hosting refugees. But it fell far short of the $10 billion sought by the United Nations – and its effects were felt on the ground. In Idlib, 10 of its 50 medical centers lost funding in 2022, forcing them to cut services dramatically, Amnesty International said in a report released Thursday.
The Norwegian Refugee Council said people across Syria have been forced to eat less. The group surveyed several hundred households across the country and found that 87 percent were skipping meals to meet other living costs.
“As the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine continues to attract world attention, the meeting of donors and governments in Brussels should not forget about their commitment to Syria,” said the NRC’s Middle East regional director. Carsten Hansen said in a report on Thursday.
The UN children’s agency UNICEF said more than 6.5 million children in Syria need assistance, the most recorded since the start of the conflict. It said that more than 13,000 children have been confirmed killed or injured since 2011.
Meanwhile, UNICEF said funding for humanitarian work in Syria was rapidly dwindling, adding that it had received less than half of its funding requirements for this year. “We urgently need about $20 million for cross-border operations in Syria,” the agency said in a statement.
Umm Khalid is among those who depend on food aid. With her help rations low, she is in debt to feed her family.
In 2016, her husband and eldest son were killed in an airstrike by the Syrian government in her home city of Aleppo. Soon after, she fled with her three surviving children to the rebel enclave in Idlib province. Since then, they have been living in a tent camp with other displaced people on the outskirts of the city of Atmeh near the Turkish border.
Her family eats twice a day – a small breakfast and a main meal in the afternoon which serves as lunch and dinner. His only income comes from picking olives for a few weeks a year, making 20 Turkish lira ($1.35) a day.
“We used to get enough rice, bulgur, dal and others. Now they keep reducing them,” she said by telephone from the camp. He spoke on the condition that his full name was not made public for fear of repercussions. She lives with her two daughters, aged six and 16, and a son, aged 12, who suffered head and arm injuries in the attack that killed her brother and father.
According to aid group Mercy Corps, the price of essential food items in northwestern Syria has already risen between 22% and 67% since the start of the Ukraine conflict. There has also been a reduction in sunflower oil, sugar and flour.
Mercy Corps provides cash assistance to buy food and other necessities for displaced Syrians and says it has no plans to reduce the amount.
“Even before the war in Ukraine, bread was already becoming increasingly ineffective,” said Mercy Corps Syria Country Director, Kieran Barnes, Most of the wheat brought into northwestern Syria is of Ukrainian origin, and the region does not produce enough wheat for its needs.
“With a huge gap between the resources and the needs of millions of people around the world, the world is witnessing a year of catastrophic hunger,” said wfp Spokesperson Abir Etefa.
He said that in many of its actions around the world, WFP is reducing the size of the rations it provides. Starting this month in northwestern Syria, provisions will drop from 1,340 to 1,177 calories a day. The food basket will continue to provide a mix of items including wheat flour, rice, chickpeas, lentils, bulgur wheat, sugar and oil.
Etefa said rising prices have increased the cost of WFP’s food aid by 51% since 2019 and that costs are likely to be even higher.
Earlier in the year, before the Ukraine conflict broke out, a 29% jump in costs prompted the Czech aid agency People in Need to switch from providing food packages to giving food vouchers. A spokesperson told the Associated Press that the vouchers, which cost $60, buy food less than the group’s target level, but that it had to take steps to “maximize its coverage of food aid for the most vulnerable.”
As the world turns to other conflicts, “Syria is on the verge of becoming another forgotten crisis,” said Joyce, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs. masuya Warn at the end of April.
In northwestern Syria, “a staggering 4.1 million people” are in need of humanitarian aid, Msuya said – not just food, but medicines, blankets, school supplies and shelter. He said that about a million people in the region, mainly women and children, live in tents, “half of whom live beyond their normal lifespan.”
Many fear the situation could only worsen in July, as Russia could force international aid to the northwest through parts of Syria under the control of its ally, President Bashar Assad.
Currently, aid enters the Idlib enclave directly from Turkey via a border crossing, the Bab al-Hawa. The UN mandate allowing deliveries through Bab el-Hawa expires on July 9, and Russia has indicated it will veto security Council resolve to renew the mandate.
A Russian veto would effectively hand Assad control over the flow of aid to the opposition enclave, and the US and EU have previously warned they would stop funding in that case.
The result would be a serious humanitarian crisis, possibly triggering a new influx of Syrian migrants into Turkey and Europe, the German Institute for International and Security Affairs warned in a report.
Umm Khalid said that he had no option but to bear his deteriorating living conditions.
“They keep lowering our food basket,” she said. “God protect us if they cut it all off.”