CO Syria – O

perational Update

July & August 2009

World Food Program

me

Highlights:

• A joint mission to drought areas took place from 3 to 5 August 2009 with the participation of WFP, UNICEF and the EU;

• The fourth distribution cycle of 2009 was concluded on 10 August, reaching about 120,400 beneficiaries, which represents about 90 percent of the targeted beneficiaries;

• A workshop was held from 8 to 9 July at the Carlton Hotel by the Response Analysis Project (RAP) mission from Rome to discuss preliminary results of the 2009 Joint Assessment Mission (JAM) and to follow up on the design of the new refugee emergency operation (EMOP) for 2010;

• An assessment mission was conducted from 9 to 13 August for the literacy component of the food for education project in Aleppo, Al-Raqqa, Al-Hasakeh and Deir Ezzor;

• In July, WFP received a donation of Euro 1 million from the European Commision’s Humanitarian Aid Department (ECHO) for the ongoing drought EMOP - Assistance to Victims of Drought;

• A UN Syria Drought Response Plan was prepared and circulated in August; the purpose of the Plan is to seek funds to work with governmental partners and targeted communities to address emergency humanitarian needs and mitigating further impacts of the drought on the most vulnerable persons severely affected by consecutive droughts;

• WFP CO Syria attended, on behalf of the OMC region, the launch of the ‘Arab Human Development Reports 2009; Challenge to Human Security in the Arab Countries’, which took place on 21 July in Beirut, Lebanon;

• On 10 August 2009, all staff in the CO attended a training session on health and safety related to the Pandemic Influenza.

An Iraqi child at distribution centre in Damascus

WFP Syria – Operational Update July and August 2009

� Page 1 of 2

A rural woman attending the literacy

course writes her name “Latifa”.

Stakeholders of Iraqi Refugees Project attended the Response Analysis

Workshop held from 8 to 9 July 2009 at Carlton Hotel.

World Food

Programme

CO Syria - Operational Update July and August 2009 Food Assistance Needs

The nomadic population living in the Badia region is still in urgent need of food assistance. Comprised mostly of farmers and herders, this population has been strongly hit by the persistent drought and has become vulnerable to food shortages. The drought had a serious effect on crop and livestock production, natural vegetation and consequently the livelihoods of herders and farmers in the rural areas.

The livelihoods of schoolchildren and poor women in the same remote and food-insecure areas in the Badia region are also highly affected, not only as regards their food security situation but also in terms of their educational and economic opportunities. Many schoolchildren have increasing difficulties to attend schools as their parents had no choice but to send them to work or to bring them along during migration, hence dropping them out of schools. Poor women are mostly illiterate hence marginalized from economic activities and are left with very few options of coping strategies.

The Joint Assessment Mission (JAM) on displaced Iraqis in Syria, conducted during mid-2009, revealed the deteriorating economic situation of refugee families due to the continuous depletion of resources and saving as well as to reduced remittances in the context of the global economic crisis.

Partnerships and Donor Relations

The State Planning Commission (SPC) is WFP's Government counterpart for operations across the country. At the operational level, WFP works in partnership with UNHCR and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) to provide food assistance to vulnerable Iraqis. The Ministry of Education (MOE) and Ministry of Culture (MOC) are the cooperating partners for the food-for-education project. The General Commission of Badia and the General Establishment for Storing and Marketing Agriculture and Animal Products (GESMAAP) are WFP's partners for the Assistance to Victims of Drought operation.

Efforts to enhance cooperation and partnerships were made through meetings with partners and donors. During the months of July and August, meetings were held with: Department for International Development of the United Kingdom (DFID UK), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Embassy of the United States of America, Embassy of India, and Secours Islamique France.

Mr. Muhannad Hadi, immediately after his appointment as WFP Representative and Country Director in Syria, paid courtesy visits to the following Ministers and Heads of Diplomatic Missions: Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Minister of State for Red Crescent, Ministers of Agriculture, Information, Health and Transport, and the Ambassadors of the United Kingdom, Canada, India, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates.

WFP CO Syria attended, on behalf of OMC region, the launch of the ‘Arab Human Development Report 2009:

Challenge to Human Security in the Arab Countries’, which took place on 21 July in Beirut, Lebanon.

Operations

Assistance to Displaced Iraqis in Syria. According to the Syrian Government, there are currently more than 1.2 million displaced Iraqis in Syria. To date, about 168,500 are registered with UNHCR and 80 percent are receiving food assistance from WFP with complementary food and non-food assistance from UNHCR.

The fourth distribution cycle of 2009 was concluded on 10 August, reaching about 120,400 beneficiaries which represent about 90 percent of the targeted beneficiaries. The food basket consisted of rice, pulses and oil.

A consultative workshop was held from 8 to 9 July at the Carlton Hotel by the Response Analysis Project (RAP) mission from Rome to discuss preliminary results of the 2009 Joint Assessment Mission (JAM) and to follow up on the design of the new refugee EMOP for 2010. The workshop was attended by project stakeholders including UNHCR, SARC, SPC, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (USA), ECHO, Canadian Embassy, European Union, UNICEF, WHO, IOM, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Action contre la Faim(ACF).

On 26 August, WFP, together with UNHCR and UNICEF, attended a preparation meeting for a workshop on common strategy development for 2010.

Food for Education. WFP, together with the Government of Syria, is addressing the issues of absenteeism and repetition in primary schoolchildren and women’s illiteracy in the food-insecure areas of the Northeast region. This effort is in line with the Government of Syria’s Tenth Five-Year Plan (2005-2010), which states the Government’s commitment to equity, social justice and achieving development that includes men and women, with an emphasis on fair distribution of educational opportunities across all social sectors and governorates.

An assessment mission was conducted for the literacy component of the project in Aleppo, Al-Raqqa, Al-Hasakeh and Deir Ezzor from 9 to 13 August, with the aim to assess the progress and impact of the project on rural women attending literacy courses. The mission also conducted a survey on their preferences for job-related training, which will take place next year. A total of six adult literacy and education centres were visited during this mission. The next food distribution for schoolchildren and rural women attending literacy courses will take place in November.

WFP Syria – Operational Update July and August 2009

� Page 2 of 2

WFP staff with victims of

drought

Schoolchildren receiving

WFP fortified biscuits

The situation at drought-affected

area in the Badia region

WFP truck delivers food

commodities to the beneficiaries

Assistance to Victims of Drought. As a result of persistent drought, which led to continuous deterioration of livelihoods in the drought-affected areas, WFP initiated reassessment exercises of the situation in those areas. A UN Syria Drought Response Plan was prepared upon completion of two joint assessment missions conducted in May and June. These revealed a dramatic increase in the number of severely affected population to over 803,000 persons (out of 1.3 million drought-affected people in the Northeastern and Badia region) and the urgent need for food assistance to target at least 300,000 persons as the most vulnerable. Under this response plan, five UN agencies, including WFP, together with IOM and Qatari Red Crescent seek a total of US$52,938,616 to work with governmental partners and targeted communities in addressing emergency humanitarian needs and mitigating further impacts of the drought on the most vulnerable of the affected population. Specifically, WFP is designing a new EMOP to address the nutritional needs of at least 300,000 people, until the next crop season of 2010. Subsequent to this EMOP, WFP will prepare a PRRO for a more sustainable response to drought.

For the current drought project (EMOP 10778 - Emergency Food Assistance to Victims of Drought), the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid Department (ECHO) confirmed its contribution of Euro 1 million, on 15 July. WFP will use this donation to provide food assistance to an additional 11,530 families or 57, 650 beneficiaries.

A joint mission to drought areas took place from 3 to 5 August, with the participation of WFP, UNICEF and the EU. The delegation visited Al-Hasakeh and Deir Ezzor to witness the deteriorating situation. Prior to the mission’s departure to drought-affected areas, WFP briefed the delegation on findings of the Joint UN Needs Assessment Mission as well as the recently prepared UN Syria Drought Response Plan, while UNICEF shared their findings on the survey conducted on people who migrated due to the long and persistent drought.

Logistics/Commodities

WFP Syria has worked closely and intensively with the Government of Syria to establish new import modalities. As a result, in July, the Government re-granted WFP waivers and exemptions from all taxes and fees as well as port dues and storage fees, which had been suspended in late 2008. International purchases have resumed, with the first purchase of 7,226 mt of rice. The first shipment of this purchase arrived in July; 1,867 mt of rice was used to cover July-August needs of EMOP 10717.0 - Assistance to Iraqi Refugees.

Closing stocks for all food commodities stood at 4,223.698 mt as of 31 July and 3,309.703 as of 31 August.

Resourcing / Pipeline

Operations were resourced through contributions from various donors. As of 31 August, resourcing stands at:

US$ 31,957,453 for Assistance to Displaced Iraqis in Syria or 96 percent of the CAP for 2009; US$ 2,564,118 or 42 percent for Food for Education; US$ 3,322,964 or 61 percent for Emergency Food Assistance to Victims of Drought. Following repeated appeals by WFP, more donors have expressed their interest to contribute to EMOP 10778.0 - Emergency Food Assistance to Victims of Drought. A budget revision was prepared to extend the EMOP in time until December 2009. Another budget revision will be prepared for EMOP 10717.0 - Assistance to Displaced Iraqis in Syria, for a no-cost extension to 31 March 2010.

Finance and Administration

WINGS II was successfully implemented in Syria Country Office. Staff have received training in all modules and have been able to execute their functions without any difficulty.

As part of WFP’s commitment to maintain safety and security of all staff travelling with WFP cars, a UN Syria’s Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for driving of UN vehicles was circulated to the WFP drivers as well as to all other staff in the Country Office. All the drivers were requested to sign on the SOP document to acknowledge their commitment to the procedure.

Human Resources

A WFP driver, Mr. Munzer Tamoukh, reached retirement on 31 July after having served WFP Syria for 28 years.

The current number of WFP staff stands at six international and 45 national.

Public Information

In August, a story was written about WFP’s Food for Education development project, illustrating the impact of the project on the schoolchildren in the northeast area, many of whom were forced to leave school to work.

Another story was written on the occasion of World Humanitarian Day on 19 Aug 2009. The story was about how relief aid workers in Syria strive to deliver life-sustaining assistance to the most vulnerable population. WFP and UNHCR were featured in the story.

Both stories are available on the UN Syria website at

http://un.org.sy/.

Pandemic Preparedness

On 10 August 2009, all staff in the CO attended a training session on health and safety related to the Pandemic Influenza. The training session aimed to equip all staff with the necessary information on pandemic preparedness; it covered topics on WFP health and safety resources, protective health measures, personal protective equipment, use of anti-viral, and some first aid training.

WFP Syria Country Office

East Mezzeh, Marrakesh Street No. 5, Bldg No. 9 Damascus, Syria PO Box: 33090

Tel: (963) 11-6120597 Fax: (963) 11-6117352

www.wfp.org