The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced Monday that new funding, pledged during the "Supporting Syria and the Region Conference" in London earlier in February, would allow WFP to fully reinstate its food assistance to Syrians.

The funds pledged will support a comprehensive restoration of food assistance for refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt from March until the end of the year, WFP said in a statement. 

The funds will also enable WFP to provide a full food basket for families inside Syria from April until October 2016, it added.

"The unprecedented response – a record pledge of approximately $675 million to WFP Syria-related operations – will help save the lives of the most vulnerable people in Syria and the region," the statement said. 

"This also supports increased school meals and other in-kind activities that will help restore hope for a better future for the millions of people affected by the crisis," it added.

"On behalf of the Syrian people whose lives have been torn apart by the conflict, we thank those world leaders who stepped up in London. Their generosity means we are able to fully meet the immediate basic food assistance needs of 1.8 million refugees in the region and 4.5 million Syrians inside the country who rely on WFP assistance every day," said WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin.

Source: MENA