WFP ready to scale up operations across the Middle East as displacement grows and supply routes come under strain

GENEVA --The World Food Programme (WFP) said Tuesday it is preparing to “Scale up operations across the middle east as displacement grows and supply routes come under strain.”

As the humanitarian situation in the middle east is changing quickly the WFP is preparing to scale up operations if displacement continues to increase in Iran, Türkiye, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Yemen, Palestine, and Armenia, according to WFP officials in Geneva. 

The rising security risks in the region are greatly putting strain on shipping routes and disrupting the distribution of aid. 

If the crisis increases, an initial three month emergency response would require 200 million USD. 

The WFP responded immediately in Lebanon due to displacements.

 “Population movements remain fluid, with people leaving South Lebanon, the Bekaa, and Beirut’s southern suburbs for shelters and host communities.” 

 Figures indicate that 30,000 people have already been displaced with the number expected to continue to increase. The WFP is working with the Lebanese government to set up a cash safety net that can reach up to 100,00 people. 

The WFP is also concerned about the border crossings in Gaza that have closed since the escalation and the negative impact this will have on aid being received. 

Today the Kerem Shalom crossing will be opened and the WFP will try and get aid in as quickly as possible. 

“We have wheat flour that is sufficient only for 10 days and food parcels that will maintain our programmes only for 2 1/2 weeks. So, we need to make sure that there is a continuous flow and scalable flow of food into the Gaza Strip.”

“Of course, there is a commercial sector that was going into the Gaza Strip and we're trying to scale up our cash assistance. But if closures or delays continue to affect operations, we expect that we will have to reduce our general food assistance ration size to almost 25% to support 1.3 million people with flour and food parcels.”

The WFP is working quickly to adapt to the ongoing airspace closures and security risks.