Life-Saving and Life-Sustaining Food Security and Winter Shelter and Non-Food Item Assistance in Afrin District. The proposed integrated action will address critical Food Security (FS) and winter  Non-Food Item (NFI) needs of 7,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) living in underserved informal settlements in Jandairis and Ma’btali sub-districts of Afrin, Aleppo. The draft 2020 Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO) ranks FS and winterization needs as severe in targeted areas. A mixed modality approach using both in-kind and cash-based assistance will be used to improve food security and increase access to life-saving and life-sustaining  winter NFI needs, specifically heating fuel. The action has been informed by a Multi-Sector Needs Assessment (MSNA) completed during April 2020 in coordination with other Syrian NGOs to inform an integrated and informed multi-sector response to better address needs. 

Over the ten-month action, eight rounds of repeat in-kind food assistance will be provided to underserved assessed food insecure IDPs in protracted displacement and living in forgotten informal settlements. Food basket composition is aligned with FSL cluster guidance and designed to meet 70% of kilocalorie and nutrient needs per person per day. Food commodities will be procured under an existing Framework Agreement with a tested supplier to ensure timely delivery of FS assistance from the second month of the action. The in-kind approach was informed by the April MSNA in Afrin and Al Bab districts which found a preference for in-kind food assistance and market access challenges for some respondents in camps and informal settlements. The focus on FS aligns with the priorities of this Standard Allocation (SA) and is informed by Post Distribution Monitoring (PDM) of Big Heart’s 2019/20 winterization program which found food to be the priority, remaining need following receipt of winter cash assistance. 

The complementary one-off cash assistance proposed is budgeted at $120 per household in line with S/NFI cluster guidance (August 2019). This will protect thermal comfort and support household well-being and is based on ensuring access to heating fuel (4 liters per household per day) for the coldest 60 days. Our April 2020 MSNA in Afrin district found markets to be the primary source of NFIs and a strong preference for cash-based assistance to meet NFI needs. Big Heart PDM with winter cash beneficiaries also found a cash-based modality to be appropriate to beneficiary needs, with 79% of respondents in one community expressing satisfaction with the modality (the remaining 21% would have preferred a higher cash transfer). 100% of the sample also stated that assistance was useful and necessary to their needs, and that they were satisfied with the distribution process. Shelter needs of targeted beneficiaries have been assessed. The majority are resident in tents provided by AFAD. Big Heart will coordinate with AFAD and other response actors regarding provision of replacement / upgraded tents for targeted beneficiaries. An integrated approach addressing FS and NFI needs seeks to ensure the winter cash transfer value is protected and used for non-food winter needs. 

The threat of the COVID 19 pandemic has been considered as a cross-cutting theme through-out the design of the action, as detailed under Section 3 (Link with Allocation Strategy).