Lucia Gobbi is at the forefront of WFP’s work delivering UK Government humanitarian support to help the most vulnerable Syrians.
The 34-year-old from Walton-on-Thames is part of the team ensuring a £50million package announced by Foreign Secretary David Lammy, following the fall of dictator Bashar Al-Assad’s regime in December, reaches those who need it most.
Approximately 16 million people in the war-torn country are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance – with UK Government support reducing the likelihood of starving Syrians having to make perilous journeys to leave Syria and the region.
Damascus-based Lucia said: “Foreign aid is essential if we are to build peace and enable the Syrians who have fled to other countries to return home.
“The situation on the ground is heart-breaking. Everywhere you go, people are just desperate for support. The level of destruction from civil war is horrendous. Travelling from Damascus to Homs, there is a certain point where you reach Eastern Ghouta and just everything has been flattened.
“Families are living in the odd building that is semi-destroyed. There’s almost no electricity and there are very limited essential services.
“To address this situation, one of our focus areas is supporting pregnant and breast-feeding women and girls, and children under two who are most at risk of malnutrition.
“The health clinics we work with, are often over-run with screaming, crying, malnourished children. Everyday involves making really heart-breaking decisions, as one of the tests to see if they are eligible for WFP assistance is measuring the arm circumference of the children. If they are a fraction of a millimetre out then we cannot help, although that does not mean they are not in need.”
Last month MAR, Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer announced a UK pledge of up to £160 million in aid to help stabilise Syria following the fall of the Assad regime. The support announced at the Annual Syria Pledging Conference, hosted by the EU in Brussels, will help provide Syrians with critical water, food, healthcare and education in 2025.
This follows a £50million humanitarian package Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced in December – with £30million providing immediate food, shelter and emergency healthcare for more than a million people in Syria. The remaining money will be split between £10 million for the WFP in Lebanon and £10 million in Jordan through WFP and the UN’s Refugee Agency, UNHCR, to help Syrian refugees hosted in those countries.
The FCDO is also working with WFP to deliver a further £3million of support to ensure grain and food produce from Ukraine reaches Syria.
Since 2012, the UK has provided over £4.3 billion in aid to assist Syrians across the region (Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, and Egypt).
Lucia has worked as a WFP Programme Policy Officer in Syria since 2021 – and admits her family worries about her working there.
She said: “I was scared to break the news I was off to work in Syria. My family were obviously terrified. It is still a worry for them.
“I’m an only child from a British-Italian family, so they’d much rather I came home. They often say, ‘Have you not had enough yet?’.
“Although they worry and wish I was home, my family are incredibly proud of what I do, while wishing it wasn’t me that had to do it.
“The WFP is ensuring households receive food assistance and preventative nutrition supplements, complemented by cash assistance that enables Syrians to buy fresh foods from local markets.
“My grandfather and uncle worked in agriculture, and my dad is an Italian chef, so I’m carrying on the family tradition of us feeding people.”
Being caught up in earthquake aftershocks or hearing explosions, airstrikes and gunfore is just part of Lucia’s reality in Syria.
She said: “The only time it’s felt a little bit scary was when there were a flurry of air strikes close to where WFP is based last year.
“One time driving back from a UN compound in Damascus, there was an air strike and we suddenly saw this big plume of smoke behind us. That made the heart race a little faster.
“But the scariest moment was nothing to do with violence - it was the earthquake in 2023. I was woken up about four in the morning and the whole building shook for around eight seconds. I couldn’t comprehend what was happening.
“My immediate thought was that it was some sort of air attack but there was no sound. When I looked out the window, I could see nothing. It was only when I went on WhatsApp, I discovered what had happened.”
Lucia hopes the country can recover and find peace after the Assad family’s 53-year authoritarian regime was purged from power by HTS forces.
Interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa has insisted the country is exhausted by war will not be a threat to its neighbours or the West.
Lucia said: “I was home for Christmas on when the regime fell on December 8, and when came back and the flag had changed. Everything’s changed.
“It’s been fascinating to see how Syrians have changed. It’s like a weight has been lifted from them. Nobody would really speak before because everyone was terrified of the regime.
“So many Syrians have lost loved ones either from the regime, the conflict, or the earthquake. The country suddenly feels more crowded with lots of chatter. Families are being reunited with lots of exiled Syrians returning home. The international airport is open again and after a decade we are seeing products like Pringles that had vanished. But there is so much more work to do.”
Minister for the Middle East, Hamish Falconer said: “A stable Syria is vital for ensuring our security at home and abroad, which is critical for delivering our Plan for Change. The UK’s pledge of up to £160m underlines our commitment to helping Syrians stabilise and rebuild their country, as well as provide lifesaving aid for Syrians hosted generously in partner countries.
“This is a critical moment for Syria. The violence in coastal areas earlier this month was horrific. The interim authorities must demonstrate their intent to promote stability, protect minorities and govern in the interests of all Syrians.
“We welcome the ceasefire agreement between the Syrian Democratic Forces and the interim authorities as an important step in this direction.”