For 64 Million, It’s A Dollar; For 1.7 Million Syrian Refugees, It’s A Lifeline

Published December 3, 2014

WFP LAUNCHES 72-HOUR SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN

ROME – After being forced to suspend food assistance to nearly 1.7 million Syrian refugees, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is launching an ambitious 72-hour campaign to raise US$64million which will reinstate Syrian refugees’ food vouchers in December. 

The three-day campaign – starting today – asks members of the public to donate one US$ 1 dollar towards WFP’s food aid for Syrian Refugees.

“Even one dollar can make a difference. We’re saying to people: ‘For you it’s a dollar, for them it’s a lifeline.’  We know that people care – and we’re asking them to show it, by giving even this small amount to Syrians in need,” said WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin.  “All it takes if US$1 from 64 million people.”

People around the world are being asked to follow this link:  wfp.org/forsyrianrefugees and visit WFP’s website wfp.org to donate online.

Members of the public are also being asked to swap their profile picture on Twitter and Facebook with a ‘badge’ representing the 1 Dollar for Syrian Refugees campaign. Badges can be found on wfp.org/forsyrianrefugees.

WFP’s Syria emergency operations are in critical need of funding.  On Monday, 1 December WFP announced that it is suspending its food voucher programme for Syrian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Egypt, affecting nearly 1.7 million people.  The refugees use electronic vouchers – normally worth about US$30 per family member – to buy food in local shops.  Without WFP vouchers, many families will go hungry. For refugees already struggling to survive the harsh winter, the consequences of halting this assistance is devastating.

WFP requires a total of US$64 million immediately to reinstate the voucher programme during the month of December.  If funding arrives this month, WFP will immediately resume assistance.

Since the Syrian conflict erupted in 2011, WFP has succeeded, despite fighting and problems of access, in meeting the food needs of millions of displaced people inside Syria and up to 1.8 million refugees in the neighbouring countries of Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt.

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For more information, contact (email address: firstname.lastname@wfp.org):

Abeer Etefa, WFP/Cairo, Mob. +20 1066634352. Tel. +202 2528 1730 ext. 2600

Gregory Barrow, WFP/London, Tel.  +44 20 72409001, Mob.  +44 7968 008474

Bettina Luescher, WFP/New York, Tel. +1 646 556 6909, Mob. +1 646 824 1112

Emilia Casella, WFP/Rome, Tel. +39 06 6513 3854, Mob. +39 347 9450634

Elisabeth Byrs, WFP/Geneva, Tel. +41 22 917 8564, Mob. +41 79 473 4570