WFP Responding To Urgent Needs Of Thousands Affected By East Aleppo Crisis

DAMASCUS – Amid the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Aleppo, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has rushed in to provide hot meals, bread, and food rations to thousands of Syrians affected by the brutal conflict.

More than 20,000 people displaced by the fighting in east Aleppo are receiving hot meals and fresh bread every day, and WFP has mobilized food stocks to meet the food needs of up to 150,000 people. So far, 14,000 displaced people and returnees have received family food rations and ready-to-eat parcels in various parts of Aleppo city and its surroundings. WFP is providing bread as nearly all bakeries inside east Aleppo have been destroyed due to constant bombardment and airstrikes.

“For months, the world has watched as the cruelty of war has descended upon the people of Aleppo,” said WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin. “As Aleppo and its people have suffered, so has our collective humanity. All Syrians – no matter where they are – deserve nothing less than food, shelter and safety from the continuing conflict.”

Many of those that WFP has assisted are in a desperate state. In many cases, people have lost homes, their livelihoods, and family members and friends.

Beyond Aleppo, WFP is supporting more than four million Syrians affected by the conflict. There are nearly one million people residing in areas that remain besieged that WFP cannot reach on a regular basis.

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WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience. Each year, WFP assists some 80 million people in around 80 countries.

Broadcast quality footage shot recently in east Aleppo available for viewing here: http://content.jwplatform.com/videos/VBcQaGh5-owG8ISvN.mp4

For more information please contact (email address: firstname.lastname@wfp.org):

Abeer Etefa, WFP/Cairo, Tel. +2010 66634352

Dana Sacchetti, WFP/Rome, Tel. +39 06 6513 3234, Mob. +39 349 980 0442

Bettina Luescher, WFP/Geneva, Tel. +41 22 917 8564, Mob. +41 79 842 8057

Gerald Bourke, WFP/New York, Tel. +1 646 5566909, Mob. +1 646 525 9982

Steve Taravella, WFP/Washington DC, Tel. +1 202 6531149, Mob. +1 202 7705993

Support WFP’s food assistance efforts to millions of people impacted by the Syrian crisis in and around Syria.