Syrian Arab Republic Interim Country Strategic Plan (2019-2021)

ICSP approved at EB.2/2108

Revision 01 approved  by ED DG-FAO in March 2020

Revision 02 approved by ED DGFAO in June 2020

Revision 03 approved by ED DGFAO in December 2020

Revision 04 approved by ED DGFAO in April 2021

Once a middle-income country, the Syrian Arab Republic has faced a prolonged crisis in recent years, which has been detrimental to development gains achieved before 2011. With each year of the crisis, the damage to the country’s economic and social fabric deepens and recovery efforts are delayed.

The human toll is substantial: 10.5 million people, including 4.4 million children, need food assistance.1 While acute malnutrition is not widespread, high stunting rates indicate a serious chronic malnutrition problem. Aggravating factors include population displacement, high levels of food insecurity, soaring unemployment rates and weakened infrastructure for health services. Compounded by the fact that a staggering 1.75 million children are currently not attending school, this systemic crisis is likely to have an impact on future generations.

The interim country strategic plan is aligned with the priorities of the Government and the humanitarian community. While continuing to provide unconditional food assistance to the most vulnerable people, WFP aims to gradually shift to livelihood activities that are designed and implemented with a view to supporting equitable and sustained recovery for men and women. WFP will also continue to implement education and nutrition activities, including capacity strengthening for food fortification initiatives.

The interim country strategic plan is designed to continue and refine WFP’s existing operations, focusing on the enhancement of targeting, beneficiary management, data collection and evidence-based programming and the strengthening of knowledge management systems.

The interim country strategic plan covers 24 months and maintains a high degree of flexibility. It is designed to achieve four strategic outcomes:

• Food-insecure populations affected by the crisis, including host communities, internally displaced persons and returnees, in all governorates, have access to life-saving food to meet their basic food needs all year round.
• Food-insecure families in urban and rural areas affected by the crisis are enabled to meet their basic food and nutrition needs and increase their self-reliance throughout the year.
• Nutritionally vulnerable groups, especially children and pregnant and lactating women and girls, across the Syrian Arab Republic have reduced levels of malnutrition throughout the year.
• Humanitarian partners across the Syrian Arab Republic benefit from augmented logistics and emergency telecommunications capacity and services, enabling them to provide humanitarian assistance throughout the crisis.

The interim country strategic plan will contribute to the achievement of the Strategic Framework for Cooperation between the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic and the United Nations 2016–2019 and to Sustainable Development Goals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 11 and 17, both directly and indirectly. It is aligned with the WFP Strategic Plan (2017–2021) and the WFP Gender Policy (2015–2020).