Syria: "Almost 60% of the population wonders how they will eat tomorrow"

2021-04-01T16:53:51.621Z

After 10 years of war, Syria is sinking into the economic crisis, aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Interview with Jessica Lawson, World Food Program in Damascus.

Syria: "Almost 60% of the population wonders how they will eat tomorrow"

Abdel Razzak al-Khatoun, 84, a Syrian farmer, with his grandchildren, in a camp for displaced people north of Idlib, March 11, 2021. REUTERS - KHALIL ASHAWI

Text by: Nicolas Falez Follow

4 min

After 10 years of war, Syria is sinking into the economic crisis, aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Interview with Jessica Lawson, World Food Program in Damascus.

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RFI: What is the humanitarian situation observed by WFP, 10 years after the start of the conflict in Syria

Jessica Lawson:

In 2021, the humanitarian needs in Syria are absolutely unprecedented.

After 10 years of conflict, the Syrians have lost a lot: their homes, their income, their loved ones and even the country they knew which was destroyed and which is gone forever.

Unfortunately, after the years of war, the Syrians face a new crisis, an economic crisis.

Many people can no longer afford a basic meal.

This is mainly due to the combination of Covid-19, a decade of conflict, displacement of populations and skyrocketing food prices.

New figures from the World Food Program reveal that

12.4 million Syrians

are now food insecure.

It is almost 60% of the total population of the country who wonder how they will feed themselves tomorrow.

We have never seen this before, even during the worst years of conflict.

Today, WFP provides food aid to 4.8 million people across the country, in the 14 governorates

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To read also: After ten years of war in Syria, Bashar al-Assad reigns over ruins

The World Food Program works everywhere in Syria: in the territories controlled by the Damascus regime as well as in those which still escape it.

Are some areas more affected than others?

What we are seeing today in Syria is not like what we have experienced before: it is not just one or two governorates that are severely affected.

Unfortunately, they all are.

Of course, in the northeast and the northwest, we have large populations of displaced people.

Many people who live near the border with Turkey have been displaced many times, so they are extremely vulnerable.

However, they are not the only ones suffering from food insecurity.

I think that across the country, it is difficult to find a home that does not experience some form of economic pressure, because of the rise in food prices and the deterioration of the economic situation.

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See also: The rise in the price of gasoline in Syria raises fears of a new cycle of inflation

What is the situation on the front lines of the Covid-19 pandemic in Syria?

Currently, there are around

48,000 confirmed cases

of Covid-19 in Syria.

But after years of conflict,

medical services

are limited across the country.

So families get sick and can't even afford basic medicine.

Masks, gloves… everything people need during the pandemic.

It has become so expensive that the Syrians cannot afford to buy them.

When traveling to Damascus, we observe that very few Syrians wear masks.

It is not because they do not understand what is going on, they are fully aware of it, but they no longer have the means.

When you have to struggle to buy food, then you struggle to buy rice and vegetables, the most basic things.

People can no longer afford to take care of them during the pandemic.

This is why there are so many cases of Covid today in Syria, which is very alarming.

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See also: International Conference on Syria: $ 6.4 billion promised, far from the target

Syria: "Almost 60% of the population wonders how they will eat tomorrow"

Syria: "Almost 60% of the population wonders how they will eat tomorrow"

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