Syria, WFP Discuss Cooperation on Providing Relief Aid to Crisis-Affected Citizens

DAMASCUS, (ST)-The Syrian government has spared no effort to provide humanitarian aid to all people affected by armed terrorist groups acts in Syria, Prime Minster Wael al-Halqi said on Sunday.

Al-Halqi, who was speaking during a meeting with the Executive Director of the World Food Program (WFP) Ertharin Cousin, stressed the government’s keenness to boost cooperation and coordination with all international organizations acting in Syria to provide humanitarian aid to crisis-hit citizens and to confront the state of drought caused by the lack of rainfall this year.

The premier hailed the WFP efforts to provide humanitarian aid, but stressed that funds allocated by the program for this purpose in 2014 are not enough as the number of affected people raised to 6 million.

He said “despite the armed terrorist groups’ systematic targeting of the Syrian people’s properties and despite the unjust economic siege, the Syrian government has spared no effort to improve the economic and living conditions of the citizens.”

Cousin, who hailed fruitful cooperation between the program and the Syrian government, highly appreciated the government’s support for international humanitarian organizations and its efforts to provide aid to all the Syrians.

Al-Halqi and the WFP official discussed mechanisms for distributing relief and ways of enhancing agricultural, economic and social cooperation.

In another meeting between the Deputy Foreign and Expatriates Minister Fayssal Mikdad and Cousin, Mikdad held the terrorism sponsoring and supporting countries responsible for the worsening of the humanitarian crisis in Syria. He strongly condemned the double standard policies adopted by Western countries which claim that they are fighting terrorism, while in fact they are supporting it in Syria.

He hailed cooperation between Syria and the WFP, urging dialogue to eliminate any obstacles that may hinder the humanitarian work of both sides.

H. Mustafa