U.N. resumes food aid for Syrian refugees after raising more funds

ROME (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The United Nations will resume food aid to Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries, following a push for more funding when a programme offering food vouchers ran out of money, the World Food Programme (WFP) announced on Tuesday.

About 1.7 million refugees in Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt will have their electronic food vouchers topped up by mid-December, so they can purchase food in local shops.

The announcement came after a campaign by the WFP seeking funds to cover a $64 million shortfall which forced the agency to suspend the programme at the beginning of December.

To date, the WFP has raised $80 million (51.15 million pounds) from private individuals, countries and companies.

"This outpouring of support in such a short time is unprecedented," WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin said in a statement.

"We're especially grateful to the many individual members of the public who reached into their own pockets to send whatever they could to help Syrian refugees who have lost everything."

(Reporting By Chris Arsenault; Editing by Ros Russell)