WFP staff accompanied the Operations Director of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), John Ging, during a three-day visit to Aleppo. After passing through over 50 checkpoints, WFP and John Ging visited a Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) warehouse where, among other items, WFP food rations are stored prior to distribution. From the visit, it was clear that WFP food is reaching people in government and non-government controlled areas, but that the amount of food is less than the intended food basket. Moreover, the needs in Aleppo, and across the country, far outweigh the level of support WFP is providing. Many SARC volunteers and NGO partners noted that each family ration that WFP dispatches to Aleppo governorate is normally divided by least three times into smaller rations as needs are large. Moreover, challenges facing WFP partnerships, as well as modifications to the mechanisms for truck dispatch clearances, could seriously jeopardize the operation.
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