Running on empty

We were all completely shocked,” says Shams, a Syrian refugee and mother of two from north of Homs province, commenting on December’s announcement by the UN World Food Program (WFP) that it had suspended payments of food aid to Syrian refugees. “It really bothered us because everything we get, we get from the UN,” she explains. After months of warnings, the WFP simply ran out of money and was forced to delay the payment of vital assistance to 6.35 million Syrians displaced by this nearly four year long conflict. Suddenly, refugees across the region who rely on aid handed out by the international community had to go without this vital lifeline. [pullquote]Funding troubles for the Syrian crisis appear unlikely to be a short blip, but part of a downward trend[/pullquote] When one of the world’s largest providers of fundamental emergency aid starts to experience major funding issues — potentially leaving