LONDON: Hunger is worsening in the Syrian Arab Republic, where more than half the population cannot reliably obtain enough food, the World Food Programme warned on Sunday as funding shortages force the UN agency to reduce aid.
Of Syria’s estimated 24.4 million people, 13.3 million are food insecure, including 7.1 million facing acute food insecurity, the WFP said.
The agency described the country as being at a “critical turning point,” warning that declining humanitarian support could deepen hardship during its fragile transition.
Funding shortfalls have forced the WFP to halve its food-assistance coverage to 650,000 people in seven governorates, from 1.3 million people in 14 governorates, the agency said.
A shopkeeper waits for customers in an old market near the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus on July 9, 2026. (AFP)
