WFP Reaches Half a Million People in Lebanon With Emergency Aid Amid Escalating Crisis

Photo: WFP/Mohammed Awadh/2024
Published November 25, 2024

BEIRUT – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has delivered emergency assistance to over half a million people in Lebanon since the escalation of the conflict began. The agency is drawing on contingency planning that included pre-positioning food supplies inside the country. The U.N. World Food Programme continues scaling up with the goal of reaching 1 million people. There are teams on the ground working around the clock to deliver urgent food assistance to affected communities across Lebanon.

“This crisis has pushed families to the brink, especially as the country has already been going through one of the worst economic crises before this current conflict,” said Matthew Hollingworth, U.N. World Food Programme country director in Lebanon. “Our teams are working tirelessly to deliver food assistance where it’s needed most, but without urgent funding, scaling up our response will be severely impacted, leaving countless people without support as winter sets in.” 

Here are the latest operational updates from the U.N. World Food Programme’s work in Lebanon:

  • The U.N. World Food Programme is providing not only emergency food but also cash assistance in Lebanon, working with partners and in collaboration with the government.
  • Since September 23, the U.N. World Food Programme has distributed nearly 4 million hot and cold meals prepared in 19 kitchens across the country; 22,500 ready-to-eat (RTE) food rations; 27,500 family food rations with enough food for one month; and more than a quarter of a million packs of bread.
  • The U.N. World Food Programme has enough food stocks inside the country to support over 1.3 million people with varying levels of assistance. This includes food parcels for nearly 500,000 people for one month, mixed food packages for more than 500,000 people for 15 days, and ready-to-eat rations that can provide emergency relief for over 340,000 people for five days.
  • Additional supplies are ready to support the U.N. World Food Programme’s school meals programs, including nearly 300,000 pounds of food and 459,000 bottles of cooking oil to help schoolchildren and their families.
  • The U.N. World Food Programme-led Logistics Cluster has successfully dispatched 12 convoys to reach hard-to-access areas, delivering ready-to-eat meals and bread to 62,200 affected people in Tyre, Rmeich, Marjaayoun, Baalbek, and Nabatieh. This includes aid to 7,400 individuals in the southern and Baalbek regions over the past week, where fighting has been most intense.
  • With needs surpassing available resources and winter approaching, the U.N. World Food Programme urgently requires $82.5 million by the end of the year to maintain its emergency operations in Lebanon and support over 1 million displaced people.

#                          #                          #

The United Nations World Food Programme is the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and the world’s leading humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

Follow us on X, formerly Twitter, via @wfp_media and @WFPLebanon