Attachments
Highlights
• During February, WFP provided essential support to 367,669 people in Palestine through monthly food and cash evouchers, injecting $3 million into the local economy, providing a boost to small businesses and households. The most redeemed items were wheat flour, vegetable oil, and frozen meat.
• WFP continued the provision of its technical expertise and cash-based transfer (CBT) platform to other humanitarian agencies to facilitate the implementation of their projects. Through this service provision in February, WFP enabled assistance to about 625,826 individuals and the redemption of about US$ 9.1 million.
• In February, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 4.0 percent compared to the previous year. (Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics) (PCBS).
• The prices of rice has increased by around 10 percent compared to February 2022, reaching a new highest level in the local market. This is driven by the international increase in rice price from the production countries.
• During February, the average value of WFP food ration prices in local currency increased by 3.5 percent compared to the previous month.
Situation Monitoring:
The ongoing economic and political context in Palestine, particularly following the impact of the Ukraine crisis and COVID-19, has had severe implications on the most vulnerable and poor Palestinians. As a result, the prices of commodities have increased significantly, with the value of the WFP ration increasing by 20 percent since the beginning of the Ukraine crisis. This has further exacerbated the decline in purchasing power of the most vulnerable Palestinians, making it challenging for them to make ends meet.
WFP has developed a new Country Strategic Plan (2023-2028) that has been approved by the Executive Board in February 2023. In this new plan, WFP has increased the monthly assistance voucher value from 10.3 to 12.4 USD (per person per month) to mitigate the increase in prices, providing the most vulnerable groups (women headed households and persons with disabilities) an additional top-up. This increase in value is aimed at coping with the increase in food prices, to ensure that assistance is indeed helping the most vulnerable Palestinians to meet their food needs.
However, WFP needs urgent funding to be able to continue providing assistance that is critical to meet food needs and provides support to the local economy. 400,000 Palestinians are at risk of being cut-off from assistance in the coming months if this funding is not received.