Status: 02/24/2022 3:10 p.m
The humanitarian situation in civil war-torn Yemen continues to deteriorate. The United Nations warns that 13 million Yemenis are at risk of starvation. Since the outbreak of the corona pandemic, even more people around the world have not had enough to eat.
13 million people in Yemen are at risk of starvation, warns the head of the UN World Food Program (WFP) David Beasley. The reasons are the protracted civil war and a lack of funds for humanitarian aid.
Beasley told the AP news agency that Yemen is in a very bad situation, with more than 40 percent of the population already dependent on World Food Program food supplies. “We’re feeding 13 million people in a country of 30 million people and we’re running out of money,” Beasley said in the capital, Sana’a.
Rations had to be cut
Since the outbreak of the corona pandemic, more people around the world are at risk of starvation. That makes it more difficult to meet Yemen’s needs. “We’re dealing with twice as many people fighting around the world now,” Beasley said. “So what should I do for the children in Yemen? Should I take it away from the children in Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Nigeria or Syria? That’s not right.”
The World Food Program has been forced to cut rations by half for eight million Yemenis due to lack of funds, he added. WFP Middle East and North Africa director Corinne Fleischer said last week full rations could only be given to people at risk of starvation. This affects five million people. Donations to date cover only 18 percent of the nearly $2 billion WFP needs for its work in Yemen, she said.
According to the World Food Program, around 811 million people worldwide do not have enough to eat and 45 million people in 43 countries are at risk of starvation. The equivalent of more than eight billion euros would be needed to meet the increasing demand for food aid around the world, as Beasley said.
War since 2015
Yemen has been at war since 2015 between President Abd Rabbo Mansur Hadi’s troops, backed by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other Arab states, and Iran-backed Houthi rebels. Recently, the violence had increased again.
In January, the rebels also attacked the United Arab Emirates for the first time. According to the United Nations, at least 377,000 people were killed in the seven years of the conflict. Most died as a result of the fighting, such as starvation and disease. Millions of people are on the run.