Additional Context: Marianne Ward, the Syria country director for the World Food Programme, or WFP, notes that the "reduction in WFP’s assistance is driven solely by funding constraints, not by a decrease in needs," as the organization's response in Syria is scaled back by 50%. Out of 7.2 million people acutely food insecure, the WFP only reached 1.3 million monthly through its emergency food assistance in 2025. In 2026, this number fell to 650,000. This program, which kept bread prices affordable through its support to over 300 bakeries with fortified wheat flour, was essential in reaching around four milllion more people than the 1.3 million reached by emergency food assistance programs.

Devex Researcher Note: Between 2024 and 2025, U.S. contributions to the WFP more than halved, from $4.45 billion to $2.06 billion. As of April 2026, the U.S. has pledged just over $538 million. The decrease in U.S. contributions thus accounts for roughly half of the total cut to WFP funds. While the U.S. reduced humanitarian contributions in Syria by $275 million between 2024 and 2025, it has actually slighty increased 2026 contributions by $49 million in relation to the previous year, surpassing Qatar, Türkiye and Saudi Arabia as the largest humanitarian donor. It is unlikely that these funds are reaching the WFP, as its 2026 funding for Syria is currently $38.1 million, more than five times less than the previous year.

Source: WFP