Miqdad and Beasley discuss cooperation between the Syrian government and the World Food Program

Damascus-SANA

Today, Dr. Faisal Miqdad, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, discussed with David Beasley, Executive Director of the World Food Program and the accompanying delegation, the relationship of cooperation between the Syrian government and the World Food Program and the future strategic plans and ways to enhance them.

Minister Miqdad praised the existing cooperation between the government of the Syrian Arab Republic and the World Food Program and the efforts made by the program to deliver humanitarian aid to those who deserve it, stressing the need to ensure the delivery of this aid without hindrances, adherence to the principles of humanitarian work and avoiding the politicization practiced by some Western countries in this context.

Minister Miqdad spoke about the effects of unilateral coercive measures imposed on the Syrian people by the United States and some Western countries, which negatively affect the effectiveness of the work of the program and other humanitarian organizations inside Syria, in addition to the serious repercussions of these measures on all aspects of daily life, especially food and basic services for the Syrian citizen.

For his part, Beasley expressed his aspiration to activate cooperation between the program and the Syrian government and enhance the effectiveness of the program in the field of building resilience, pointing to the importance of obtaining stable and sustainable funding to seek to improve the livelihood of the Syrian citizen and not be satisfied with providing food aid in the short term.

The discussion also dealt with future work plans and the transition from emergency humanitarian assistance to recovery, as well as medium and long-term plans.

The meeting was attended from the Syrian side by Dr. Bashar Al-Jaafari, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Ambassador Dr. Ghassan Obaid, Director of the Protocol Department, Dr. Abdullah Hallaq, Director of the Private Office Department, Rania Al-Hajj Ali, Director of the Organizations Department, Ammar Al-Arassan and Nahla Al-Khair from the Department of International Organizations and Conferences, Dr. Ihsan Al-Rumman and Roaa Sharbaji from the Minister's Office.

On the UN side, it was also attended by Omran Riza, UN Resident Coordinator, Corinne Fleischer, Regional Director of the World Food Programme, Sean O'Brien, Representative and Country Director of the Program in Syria, Abeer Etefa, Director of the Media Department in the Regional Office, Kristen Nelson, Special Assistant to the Executive Director, and Elissar El-Gendy, the Protocol Officer at the World Food Program.