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Syria has been ravaged by violence for a decade now, and that has really hit its economy
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The Islamic State terrorist group continues to occupy small tracts of the nation
More than two out of every three people in Syria are food-insecure, said the World Food Program in a statement on Monday, July 26.
The UN body said this while thanking a humanitarian donation of €109 million ($128.73 million) by Germany to the Middle-Eastern country.
Syria, with a current population of 18 million, has been ravaged by violence for a decade now, and that has really hit its economy.
The Islamic State terrorist group — better known as ISIS or ISIL, the abbreviation of its longer name — continues to occupy small tracts of the nation.
The WFP blamed “record high food prices, large-scale population displacement, and years of protracted conflict” for the food problems Syria is facing now.
It said: “Throughout the last decade, 6.5 million Syrians have been internally displaced, and 2.4 million children remain out of school.”
It now estimates that around 12.4 million Syrians — more than two out of every three — are food-insecure.
It explained that the donation from the German Federal Foreign Office would “support 4.8 million Syrians to access lifesaving food, and over 600,000 children to access nutritious food through an emergency school feeding program.”
The statement quoted WFP Country Director in Syria Sean O’Brien as saying: “Staple foods are more expensive than ever, and for the majority of families, each month is harder than the last.”
He added: “Millions of people rely on food from WFP to survive and to improve their nutrition, so WFP is grateful for the German government’s ongoing support for families across the country.”