By Ryan Quinn
Late last year, “60 Minutes” reported on how the World Food Program was helping refugees from the civil war in Syria stay alive. “People had eaten the dogs and cats and were running low on leaves and grass” in Yarmouk, the show reported. That’s how bad things had gotten in a neighborhood of the capital. “60 Minutes” repeated the story earlier this month and said that things had not improved in the country as far as the need for food for refugees.
The Senate is about to start looking at legislation that would make U.S. food-aid programs work better in desperate places like Syria. Will you contact your senators and urge Congress to make improvements?
The U.S. government, through the World Food Program, is keeping hunger at bay for people in Syria and other places of war, famine, and great need. But there’s still room for improvement in the way our government provides food aid.
We need to modernize U.S. food-aid programs, and Congress needs encouragement from you to do it. Reforms to the government’s food-aid programs would improve their ability to reach more people in need and at less cost to taxpayers.
Congress has already been paying attention to this issue, and food-aid reform is moving forward. This is thanks to the continued efforts of activists like you. This month, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is looking to mark-up the Food for Peace Reform Act after August recess.
Tell your senators to support and cosponsor S. 525, the Food for Peace Reform Act of 2015.
Last year, Bread for the World members won significant victories in food-aid reform. The Food for Peace Reform Act would build on those individual successes and permanently reform U.S. food aid laws. Help us take this huge step toward ending hunger. Email your senators today.
Ryan Quinn is a senior policy analyst at Bread for the World.
Photo: Cocoa is scooped out of the pods. Laura Elizabeth Pohl/Bread for the World
