The U.N. refugee agency is to cut food aid to more than a quarter of Syrian refugees in Lebanon starting next month, partly as a result of a massive shortfall in funding.

From October, UNHCR will move to "targeted assistance," as it struggles to assist a refugee population of at least 720,000 people in Lebanon. "We will have to switch to targeted assistance and cut some of our direct funding in part because of the shortfall in funds," UNHCR spokeswoman Roberta Russo told AFP.

"Our campaign sought $1.7 billion for Lebanon, and that is only 27 percent funded," she added, saying aid agencies were making "difficult decisions" every day about how to use limited aid money. Russo said a transition from blanket assistance of all refugees to a focus on the most vulnerable was not unusual when dealing with such a crisis. [Link]