UN food agency welcomes agreement on Idlib cease-fire

By Peter Kenny

GENEVA (AA) - The UN World Food Program on Friday welcomed Turkey and Russia's agreement on a cease-fire in Syria's Idlib province.

"A relative calm is being reported there this morning after weeks of intense fighting which has created a humanitarian crisis with up to one million people displaced," WFP spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs told journalists at the UN in Geneva.

Ankara and Moscow agreed to a cease-fire effective as of midnight Thursday amid escalating tensions in Idlib.

She said that the lull in the fighting, which does not mention safe zones for civilians, "should allow those caught in the firing line to access to desperately needed humanitarian assistance."

Byrs said that the number of displaced from the Idlib conflict was the highest since the beginning of the Syrian War which is about to enter its 10th year.

"People trapped in northwest Syria are in urgent need of life-saving humanitarian assistance, including food, shelter, and medicines," she said.

Byrs said that food prices in Idlib have risen by 120%, making families wholly reliant on food assistance from WFP and partners.

The region faces delays in delivery and distribution as some of the WFP's partners have themselves been displaced.

It has been extremely difficult to track, identify, and located all displaced people in need of help due to the rapid movement of people in the region.

Byrs said that in Syria, 6.5 million people are food insecure in the country and 75% of people in the war-torn country are living in extreme poverty.

WFP delivers food assistance monthly to 4.5 million people across Syria.