Help the United Nations feed Syrian refugees with this smartphone app

Since the brutal Syrian civil war broke out in 2011, over 250,000 people have lost their lives. A further 7.6 million Syrians are internally displaced and 4 million have simply fled the country – the majority of which live in neighboring countries of Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan. The UN estimates four out of every five Syrians remain mired in poverty and 12.2 million residents are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. Public institutions in Syria aren’t equipped to deal with the crisis – the government holds sway over few parts of the country while infrastructure such as schools and hospitals have been turned into battlegrounds.

Hence it is imperative for the international community to step up and play its part. If nothing else, refugees deserve to be fed and clothed – they’re faced with an uncertain, bleak future as the war shows no signs of dissipating. Unfortunately, the UN has fallen far short of fundraising goals to help Syria – it’s only met 45 percent of a target of US$7.4 billion in 2015.

To help close this gap and raise more funds, the World Food Program (WFP) – a body of the UN – has launched ShareTheMeal, a smartphone app which allows for donations as low as US$0.50. That’s all the money it takes to feed a child for a whole day, according to an emailed statement sent by the global body. Users can donate larger amounts if they wish to do so; all it takes is a simple tap on your smartphone. There’s versions for both iOS and Android.

ShareTheMeal had a beta launch in June this year. Over 120,000 users from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland donated enough money for 1.7 million meals. The funds were used to feed children in the African country of Lesotho. The app is now publicly available for download anywhere in the world. ShareTheMeal aims to be as transparent as possible – users can track the status of their donations and see exactly where their meals are distributed.

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