After a successful pilot program, United Nations are expanding the SMS food aid program for Iraqi refugees in Syria to include more people. Tens of thousands of refugees living outside Damascus (the capital) will now be able to receive aid by exchanging coupons sent to their mobile phones.
Under the voucher project, beneficiaries receive a text message providing a code which recipients can cash in at selected government shops.
A single voucher, worth $30 per person per two-month cycle, allows refugees to buy for more than 15 different commodities such as rice, lentils, chickpeas, oil, canned fish and sugar, as well as cheese and eggs — fresh produce that cannot usually be included in conventional aid baskets. After each transaction, another text message will be sent informing them of their remaining balance.
The original program started last October with 1,000 refugee families in Damascus, and now it’s expanded to reach more than 9,600 families, or about 32,500 Iraqis. There are more than 1 million Iraqi refugees in Syria, with some 130,000 regularly receiving WFP food and non-food aid from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
[Via: CellularNews]