‘Hot conflict’ pushes 12 million Syrians into food insecurity

Syria ranks among the 10 most food insecure countries globally, with “a staggering 12 million people considered to be food insecure,” the Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator continued, while noting that the country’s economy is “spiraling further downward.”

“Food keeps getting more expensive, and people are going hungry,” she said, pointing out that the basic cost to feed a family of five for a month has almost doubled.

To get by, families borrow money without much hope of repaying it, burying them under an ever-increasing financial burden.

And children, mostly girls, are being pulled out of school while child marriages increase.

Mr. Pedersen said that while front lines remain unshifted, “we still see all signs of an ongoing hot conflict”.

“Any of a number of flashpoints could ignite a broader conflagration,” he continued, drawing a grim picture of mutual shelling, skirmishes and security incidents across frontlines in the northwest, the northeast, and the southwest.