WFP Iran Country Brief, February 2020
In Numbers
30,394 people assisted in February 2020
270.5 MT of food assistance distributed USD 135,881 distributed through cash-based transfers
USD 1.1 m six months net funding requirements (April – September 2020)
Operational Updates
• In February, WFP successfully reached 30,394 refugees as per target, of whom 8,498 were women, 8,498 men, 6,373 girls, and 6,980 boys.
The assisted people received a total cash transfer value of USD 135,881 and 270.5 MT of fortified wheat flour and vegetable oil.
• WFP in Iran is planning to commence with a school feeding programme in March and the procurement of food items is underway. WFP plans to distribute milk, biscuits, date bars and seed kernels among 7,000 primary and junior high school girls and boys studying inside all refugee settlements, along with their teachers.
• Thousands of Iranians were affected severely by floods in south-east of Iran in January 2020. The Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) requested WFP support for the provision of food assistance.
In response WFP delivered mixed commodities in the form of 4,720 emergency family food packages equivalent to USD 205,000 that catered to the food and nutritional needs of 18,800 people for one month in the provinces of Sistan and Baluchestan.
• The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) has raised the global risk assessment for the COVID-19 virus to be “very high”. Iran is one of the countries already severely affected by the virus. As an immediate response to the COVID-19 epidemic which has been affecting Iran since late February, WFP in Iran has procured masks, gloves and hand sanitizers for staff in charge of food distributions and school meals in all refugee settlements across the country. WFP is working closely with the Government and the UN country team in Iran to mitigate the impact of the virus on humanitarian work in the country and to protect the people WFP assists.