By Gabriella Landeros
The U.S. is working toward providing deeper humanitarian relief to Syria and securing access for humanitarian organizations to reach citizens in need of help.
In an announcement on Sunday, the U.S. State Department said that it had agreed to provide an additional $12.2 million in humanitarian assistance, which brings total U.S. assistance to nearly $25 million since the government-led crackdown in Syria began.
According to the Congressional Research Service (CRS), the U.S. Governmental Humanitarian Aid will be supplied by the State Department, the Department of Defense and USAID, which is the main agency that regulates U.S. government and private sector foreign assistance.
According to the State Department, the money will support domestic and international humanitarian partners, with $10.5 million going to the World Food Program (WFP), $8.5 million going to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), $3 million going to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and $2.8 million going to non-governmental organizations (NGO).
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will provide supplies such as medical services, food, water, blankets, hygiene kits, and heaters to support Syrians now living in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, and also include aid to host families who are sheltering Syrians because of the continuous violence.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced their concern for humanitarian aid on March 14th, stating it was “voicing serious concern over the state of food security, especially for vulnerable groups.
“WFP [World Food Program] estimates that 1.4 million people have become food insecure as a result of the violence,” the group added.
Not all nations, however, are on board with the continued funding to Syria. According to Reuters, a senior US representative who visited Moscow said that getting Russia to join the effort has been difficult.
“We have a difference of approach, clearly, on Syria, but there’s not been an end to communication between Moscow and Washington on this matter,” said U.S. Acting Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Rose Gottemoeller. “We are talking very very closely every day about what’s happening in Syria and trying to make common cause where we can make common cause, but it’s clear that there are areas where we have a very significant disagreement on how to handle the Assad regime.”
The mission for the World Food Program (WFP) is to provide aid to displaced Syrians and host families, households that have lost breadwinners or livelihoods, female-headed households, and unaccompanied minors. Records show that WFP is providing food assistance to 100,000 people affected by the civil conflict in 11 governorates in Syria. Over 94 percent of their target (around 85,000) people received food assistance in the latest cycle of WFP distributions, while the remaining were delayed due to insecurity. When security allows, distributions will continue lending aid to the worst-affected areas.
Read the original article on the Talk Radio News Service site.
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