SMS food vouchers for Iraqi refugees in Syria

Geneva: Iraqi refugees in Syria will this week start to receive UN text messages they can redeem for fresh food in local shops, the World Food Programme said on Tuesday.

The "virtual vouchers" worth $22 (about Dh80) per family every two months will supplement traditional aid which rarely includes perishable goods, WFP spokeswoman Emilia Casella said, announcing the pilot project supported by the mobile company MTN.

"They will be able to exchange their electronic vouchers for rice, wheat flour, lentils, chickpeas, oil and canned fish, as well as cheese and eggs — items that cannot usually be included in conventional aid baskets," she said.

There are more than 1.2 million Iraqis now living in Syria, according to government figures.

Virtually all the 130,000 Iraqis who now regularly receive WFP food assistance in Syria have mobile phones, and the UN agency often sends text messages to tell them where food staples will be distributed, the spokeswoman said.