SYRIA: International aid organizations and western countries send humanitarian aid to Syria

IDLIB, Syria – In the ongoing Syrian war which has (internally) displaced millions of Syrians, several international parties send food and medical humanitarian aid to Syria. A third planned aid batch under the United Nations aid program arrived in Idlib Province this week via the official Bab al-Hawa border crossing. The aid shipment consisted of 10 trucks loaded with food and medical supplies. Whether all aid reaches the destination where it is most needed is not fully certain as Turkish-backed militant and terrorist groups, most notably al-Nusra Front, receive some of the humanitarian aid and store it in warehouses near the city of Sarmada in the northern countryside of Idlib.

Russia officially decided to fund a food aid program in Syria. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry in a statement on Tuesday said that it had signed a memorandum with the United Nations World Food Program regarding funding of UN program’s activities in Syria. The ministry added that it aims to provide $ 20 million food aid to Syria. The program will purchase local foodstuffs in Syria to be distributed to the needy, poor, and displaced plus it will support and serve nutrition programs in schools.

Save the Children stated that ca. 700.000 Syrian children suffer from hunger due to the damage caused to the economy. This is in part due to the impact of Coronavirus pandemic related measures. The organization added that the total number of those who suffer from food insecurity throughout the whole country has reached ca. 4.6 million children.

And according to the World Food Program, the cost of the food basket that can feed a family has increased more than 23 times from what it was before the crisis.