Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
Damascus, SANA- Chairman of the Supreme Relief Committee, Minister of Local Administration and Environment, Engineer Hussein Makhlouf, met with representative and country director of the World Food Program (WFP) in Syria, Kenneth Crossley, to clarify the announcement published by the program through media about the end of the general food aid program in Syria in January 2024 due to extensive funding cuts.
Minister Makhlouf expressed the Syrian Arab Republic’s dissatisfaction with this announcement without prior coordination, which shows a deviation in the course of the program towards politicization of the humanitarian aid programs provided to the Syrian people, and thus its joining the parties working to exert pressure on the Syrian people,
He stressed his reservations with regard to stopping food aid to the majority of those eligible in light of the increase in the number of people in need of aid.
Minister Makhlouf noted that the difficult conditions experienced by Syrian citizens are due to the attrition caused by the terrorist war, the economic blockade, the theft of oil and wheat by the US and Turkish occupiers and terrorist and separatist groups, especially that many Syrian citizens depend on the sustainability of food assistance provided by the program.
Minister Makhlouf expressed the hope that the WFP would review its decision on food assistance and come up with a more objective and humane approach to maintaining the continued provision of assistance to the greatest number of people in need through efforts and solutions to address this reduction, which has a negative impact on Syrians.
Kenneth, in turn, promised to get the message out to the WFP management and to make efforts and provide solutions for the continued provision of humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people.
Manar Salameh/ Ruaa al-Jazaeri
