Emergency in Siria – Health and food assistance to vulnerable families in Aleppo

FMSI is currently engaged in the implementation of the “Health and Food Assistance to Vulnerable Families in Aleppo” project. According to the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Syrian conflict has claimed more than 500,000 lives and displaced an estimated 13 million people. Many Syrians are displaced or refugees in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, countries that host the largest number of registered Syrian refugees. The war began after the Syrian regime implemented a crackdown on peaceful civilian protesters. Various factions-Syrian rebels, ISIS, al Qaeda-affiliated organizations, Kurdish-led organizations and foreign militias, including Hezbollah-have engaged in a costly contest for control of territory.  

In Syria, in addition to the difficulties caused by the spread of Covid-19, which has contributed to aggravating the country’s already precarious health, political and economic conditions, the immediate repercussions of the war in Ukraine have been felt, which has visibly worsened an already difficult humanitarian situation, further complicating the negative situation the country has been experiencing for some time. A continuation of the confrontation in Ukraine or, worse, an expansion of it into a broader NATO-Russia confrontation would jeopardize multilateral cooperation on conflict management and humanitarian issues in Syria. Even before the war, Syria was a low- and middle-income country: 90 percent of the population lived in poverty, two-thirds depended on humanitarian aid, and 55 percent suffered from food insecurity. In December 2021, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations warned of the risk of famine due to severe drought and a sharp decline in the grain harvest. Eleven years into the Syrian conflict, six out of 10 citizens do not know if and where their next meal will come from. Dependence on imports from Russia means that the current crisis in Europe could have serious repercussions in Syria, exacerbating food shortages and causing food prices to soar.

AIM OF THE PROJECT:

This project aims to improve the living conditions of 830 vulnerable families in Aleppo through the distribution of food baskets carried out by Aleppo’s network of 155 volunteers, the Blue Marists. This initiative is essential to meet the basic needs of the beneficiary families by bringing an improvement in nutritional status by mitigating their destitution. During the distribution, people will have the opportunity to feel at home, the comfort of talking with volunteers in the sign of the continuity of an important solidarity network. The food baskets are of two types depending on the size of the family:  

• Food Package A: 2 kg of spaghetti, 4 kg of sugar, 1 liter of olive oil, 2 liters of cooking oil, 1 kg of butter, 2 kg of rice, 1 kg of tomato paste, 2 packages of canned meat, 1 jar of jam. 
• Food Package B: 1 kg of spaghetti, 2 kg of sugar, 1 liter of olive oil, 2 liters of cooking oil, 1 kg of butter, 2 kg of rice, 1 kg of tomato paste, 2 packages of canned meat, 1 jar of jam.