The following are details of the first UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs' Bulletin on Syria.
- At least 1 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance inside Syria.
- Over 78,000 Syrians are living as refugees in neighbouring countries.
- Assistance is being provided but does not match the needs. WFP plans to reach 500,000 people with food assistance in June.
- The modalities for scaling-up the response have been agreed with the Syrian Government.
- Additional funding is urgently required for the response,both inside Syria and in neighbouring countries.
Food assistance is stepped up; WFP aims to reach 500,000 people in June
Food prices have risen by 30 to 60 per cent over the past year and access to food in some areas has been severely reduced. In coordination with the Syrian
Arab Red Crescent (SARC), WFP has scaled-up its food assistance in Syria, reaching 110,000 people in March and 250,000 people in each of April and May.
In the first week of June, WFP will double its caseload to reach 500,000 people.
Over the past month, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), cooperation with SARC, has supplied 15,000 food parcels for 74,500 people in
Hama, Homs, Idlib and Rural Damascus. As of June, ICRC is planning to provide food assistance to 100,000 people per month.
More than 50,000 people receive basic household items; more urgently require support
Families who have relocated as a result of the unrest are in urgent need of nonfood items (NFIs), including hygiene kits, kitchen sets, blankets and mattresses.
Host families are also experiencing shortages of NFIs due to limited livelihood opportunities. UN agencies have distributed NFIs to approximately 52,000 people since the beginning of 2012, including to 12,000 people in rural Damascus over the past month.
The ICRC has provided sleeping mats, blankets, hygiene kits and other items to people in Hama, Homs, Idlib and Rural Damascus, while the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has delivered 22,400 hygiene parcels, 11,388 kitchen sets, 18,100 mattresses and 36,700 blankets (winter and summer) to people in need.
*The complete report is available from the UN's website.
