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News ID: 81440
Publish Date : 05 August 2020 - 21:54

WFP: 13 Million in Yemen Need Food Aid

SANA’A (Dispatches) – The Executive Director of the UN World Food Program, David Paisley, says that as many as 13 million Yemenis receive food aid from the WFP through a network of aircrafts, ships, trucks and warehouses.
Late last week, the program said that its grain warehouse in Hudaydah had exhausted its last shipment amid fears of starvation in the war-torn country.
According to the United Nations estimates, years of Saudi-led war in Yemen has caused the worst humanitarian crisis in the world with more than 80 percent of the country’s population in need of humanitarian aid.
The death toll in the Saudi-led war since 2015 reached 100,000 in October last year, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project (ACLED), which tracks confirmed fatalities in the conflict.
Meanwhile, the United Nations and partner organizations are assessing humanitarian needs for more than 10,000 displaced people fleeing their temporary shelters from severe flooding in several parts of Yemen, a UN spokesman said on Tuesday.
Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said that while it is too early for casualty estimates, the destruction of homes, relief supplies and other property has been reported.
Emergency assistance is being mobilized for the worst affected areas in Abyan, Marib, Amran, Saada, al-Jawf, Ibb and al-Dhale governorates.
Heavier than usual rains have battered Yemen this year, which is worsening an already catastrophic humanitarian situation that includes the growing risk of famine, the devastating impact of COVID-19 and other challenges, the spokesman said, adding that more rain is expected in the coming days.
Haq said the Yemen relief response plan is only 21 percent funded. Cuts to donor funding are forcing core programs to close or reduce support across sectors, including food, water, health and nutrition.