Deputy Administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), Isobel Coleman, announced in Jordan on Thursday that the United States, through the Agency, is providing $55 million in additional food assistance for Syrian refugees in Jordan as part of the Syria crisis response.
The new assistance will help USAID partner the World Food Program (WFP) meet emergency food needs of more than 460,000 Syrian refugees, it said according to Jordan’s news agency, Petra.
USAID’s funding will provide cash-based assistance for families to purchase food in Jordanian stores, which will, in turn, support the local economy.
Since the start of the war in Syria nearly 12 years ago, hundreds of thousands of Syrians have crossed into neighboring Jordan to seek refuge from the conflict, the Agency said.
As of March 2023, Jordan hosts more than 670,000 registered Syrian refugees, the third-largest population of Syrian refugees in the world.
With support from USAID, WFP provides critical food assistance to at-risk Syrians and other refugees in Jordan each month.
“The United States remains the single largest humanitarian donor to the Syria response and has provided nearly $16 billion in humanitarian assistance throughout Syria and the region since the start of the conflict,” USAID noted.
It said Washington urges other donors to support the Syrian people given the scale and urgency of needs and the outstanding funding gaps.
