ROME – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced today that new funding, pledged during the “Supporting Syria and the Region Conference” in London earlier this month, will allow WFP to fully reinstate its food assistance to Syrians.

The funds pledged will support a comprehensive restoration of food assistance for refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt from March until the end of the year. The funds will also enable WFP to provide a full food basket for families inside Syria from April until October 2016.

The unprecedented response – a record pledge of approximately USD 675 million to WFP Syria-related operations – will help save the lives of the most vulnerable people in Syria and the region. This also supports increased school meals and other in-kind activities that will help restore hope for a better future for the millions of people affected by the crisis.

“On behalf of the Syrian people whose lives have been torn apart by the conflict, we thank those world leaders who stepped up in London. Their generosity means we are able to fully meet the immediate basic food assistance needs of 1.8 million refugees in the region and 4.5 million Syrians inside the country who rely on WFP assistance every day,” said WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin.

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Note to Editors: Of the USD 675 million pledged at the London conference, Germany announced a landmark contribution to WFP of €570 million (USD 623 million) from the German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO) and the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). For the WFP Syria crisis response, in addition, the German Government at the London conference provided € 65 million (USD 71 million) for WFP’s operations for displaced in Iraq.

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.

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

Abeer Etefa, WFP/Cairo, Tel. +202 2528 1730 ext. 2600, Mob. +201066634352

Jane Howard, WFP/Rome, Tel. +39 06 65132321, Mob. +39 346 7600521

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

Ralf Suedhoff, WFP/Berlin, Tel. +49 30 206 149, Mob. 49 160 949 12547

Gregory Barrow, WFP/London, Tel. +44 20 72409001, Mob. +44 7968 008474

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

Steve Taravella, WFP/Washington DC, Tel. +1 202 653 1149, Mob. +1 202 770 5993