The World Food Programme (WFP) released on August 10, 2023 its 2022 year in review on its operations across the Middle East, Northern Africa, and Eastern Europe (MENAEE) region. In details, the report revealed that more than 52 million out of 514 million individuals in the MENAEE region faced food insecurity in the year 2022, representing a 50% increase when compared to the 2020 pre-COVID-19 statistics. The report added that vulnerable communities in the import-dependent MENAEE countries were greatly affected by food insecurity, with the war in Ukraine further exacerbating their situation. The WFP noted that the average cost of the food basked in 2022 soared in several MENAEE countries, namely Lebanon (1,750%), Syria (920%), Yemen (140%), and Türkiye (108%). Accordingly, the cost of living rose dramatically, thereby eroding households’ purchasing power. The WFP report also noted that it increased its response in the MENAEE region to reach ~36.9 million beneficiaries, which represents 99% of the total planned beneficiaries and a 32% rise in comparison with the year 2021. The aid was allocated according to the following areas: 33 million in “unconditional resources transfer”, 3.9 million in “school-based assistance”, 2.3 million in “prevention of malnutrition”, 1.5 million in “treatment of malnutrition”, and 0.6 million in “assets creation and livelihoods”. In the same vein, the beneficiaries were divided in the following fashion: 22 million as “residents/non-refugees”, 11.6 million as “internally displaced”, 2.3 million as “refugees”, and 0.9 million as “returnees”. The assistance provided to the beneficiaries was distributed between $1.13 billion in the form of cash transfers, 1.48 million metric tons in food distributed, and $50.3 million in commodity vouchers. From another perspective, the report mentioned that the WFP divides its assistance into 5 strategic priorities. The first strategic priority, “deliver in emergencies”, allowed the WFP to assist 35.6 million individuals in 15 countries with $1.18 million cash transfers and food distributions equivalent to 1.48 million metric tons. According to the WFP, the main reasons for food insecurity in the MENAEE countries are armed conflict, economic uncertainty, natural hazards, elevated inflation and severe currency devaluations. With regards to Lebanon, the report noted that some 1.98 million residents and refugees were categorized under the IPC phase 3 or above (i.e. facing crisis or worse). The WFP continued to provide emergency assistance to Syrian refugees and Lebanese residents affected by the economic crisis. The second priority “enhancing shock-responsive social protective systems” has granted the WFP the ability to support 9 governments in the region through five joint programs and more than 20 partners & donors. As per the WFP’s data, around 60% of individuals in the MENA region do not have access to social protection, a figure that surpasses the global average of 53%. In the same vein, the report stated that the MENA countries spend around 6.2% of GDP on social protection, compared to a global average of 12.9% of GDP. The report revealed that the efforts placed by the WFP in Lebanon allowed social assistance to increase by four folds to cover some 1 million extremely poor Lebanese. More specifically, some 400,000 individuals received cash transfers through the National Poverty Targeting Programme and around 702,000 individuals obtained cash transfers through the Emergency Social Safety Nets Program. The third strategic priority, “school feeding”, is an especially important safety net to ensure proper education and nutrition for children. Delving further into details, only 33% of primary school-attending children in the MENAEE region benefited from a school program. In figures, the report revealed that 14 governments in the MENAEE region are receiving school feeding support and some 11,000 schools are obtaining assistance. In addition, around 4 million children received school food assistance in 2022, up from 3 million in 2021. Concerning Lebanon, the report mentioned that the WFP’s school feeding program reached 71,000 boys and girls in 115 public primary schools in 2022. The report noted that the WFP will assist the Lebanese Ministry of Education and Higher Education to prepare a national school feeding strategy as a sustainable safety net for students to access education and at the same time obtain their nutritional needs. The fourth priority involves the “regional refugee response” that the WFP has prioritized through 12 operations in MENAEE countries with highly challenging socio-economic, environmental, and political situations. The report revealed that 2.3 million vulnerable refugees in the MENAEE region obtained some WFP-based assistance through in-kind food, cash, and other means of assistance. As far as Lebanon is concerned, the report mentioned that the country hosts circa 1.5 million Syrian refugees, the highest number of refugees per capita and per square kilometer in the world. The report added that the WFP has assisted some 1.2 million Syrian and 7,000 non-Syrian refugees with cash-based transfers. The fifth and last strategic priority centers upon “scaling up climate action and resilient food systems”. The report shows that the MENAEE region is highly affected by climate change and by the global food crisis. The volatile effects of climate change are threatening the region’s food security which is hampering the ability of the poorest and most vulnerable individuals to meet their basic food & nutrition needs. In addition, the report commented that due to the MENAEE region’s economic volatility and high reliance on imports, the region was one of the most affected regions by the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. The WFP has increased its assistance spectrum by helping 108,000 farmers, rehabilitated 35,400 hectares of land, assisted 40,600 individuals to gain access to energy products, only to name a few. In Lebanon, the WFP-FAO farmer voucher project has granted 3,800 farmers with vouchers of $300 to purchase fertilizer, seedlings and irrigation material to guarantee continued production. It is worth mentioning that 63% of the WFP irrigation canals and agricultural roads built resulted in better vegetation and soil conditions. The report stated in this regard that the WFP has assisted Lebanese farmers in planting more than 1 million trees throughout the country, safeguard six forest natural reserves and 600 trees. Furthermore, the report revealed that the WFP has aided in strengthening the early warning systems by observing the impact of forest fires, floods, and other natural disasters, not to mention training and equipping early responders.