Geneva, December 10 (QNA) – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced Tuesday that it would reinstate food assistance to Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries thanks to a massive expression of support from the public, the private sector and donor countries.
By mid-December, Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt will have their electronic food vouchers — also known as e-cards — uploaded with an average amount of US$30 per family member so that they can immediately use them to buy food from local shops.
After suspending food aid to nearly 1.7 million Syrian refugees on 1 December, WFP launched an ambitious social media fundraising campaign using the hashtag #ADollarALifeline that raised millions from individuals, the private sector and governments.
Among individuals contributing online through wfp.org, the third largest number by nationality were Syrians, after Americans (first) and Canadians (second). Almost 14,000 individuals and private sector donors in 158 countries contributed US$1.8 million dollars.
As a result of the campaign, WFP has to date raised more than US$80 million — including contributions from governments — surpassing the goal to raise US$64million in December and permitting the full value of the e-cards to be distributed to refugees this month, with some funds carrying through to January.
AMA
QNA 0535 GMT 2014/12/10
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