AMMAN – The internationally acclaimed British singer and composer Sami Yusuf visited Zaatari camp in Jordan yesterday where he saw at first hand the plight of refugees who fled the conflict in Syria.

“This is an incredible ordeal for you and your families and I don’t want you to lose faith that you will go back home soon, so stay strong and take care of your children because this is the future of Syria,” Yusuf  told refugees that he met during his one-day visit to the camp.

Yusuf met families who shared with him stories of loss, war and hope. Touched by their resilience, Yusuf invited them to sing along with him.

Yusuf also stopped at WFP’s distribution centres inside the camp where he met refugee men and women collecting their food rations. He dedicated part of his visit to seeing Syrian children at UNICEF-run schools inside the camp and he participated in WFP’s school feeding programme, distributing nutritious date bars to school-aged refugees.

This month, WFP is planning to feed up to 380,000 refugees living with host communities and in the camps through food vouchers and in-kind food assistance. WFP is short of US$20million needed to continue its operations in Jordan and expand as more refugees arrive every day.

“I am proud of the hard work and collective effort that I see today of WFP and other humanitarian agencies to assist Syrian refugees and I appeal to the international community and the public to support the humanitarian efforts inside Syria and in neighbouring countries,” said Yusuf.

Overall, WFP needs US$19 million every week to provide assistance for 2.5 million people inside Syria and just over one million refugees in neighbouring countries.

As a celebrity partner for the World Food Programme, Yusuf has been promoting the fight against hunger around the world through his music and voicing the needs of millions of vulnerable people worldwide.

http://www.wfp.org/news/news-release/wfp-celebrity-partner-sami-yusuf-visits-zaatari-camp-syrian-refugees-jordan-0