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UN warns of worsening hunger crisis in Yemen
GENEVA, Oct 16, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Some 12 million Yemenis could soon be on
the brink of famine if the security and economic situation in the war-ravaged
country does not improve, the UN warned Tuesday.
“Yemen is currently facing the world’s worst hunger crisis, with almost 18
million people throughout the country not knowing where their next meal is
coming from,” World Food Programme (WFP) spokesman Herve Verhoosel told
reporters in Geneva.
Over eight million people are already considered to be on the brink of
famine in Yemen, he said, adding that the situation was being exacerbated by
sky-rocketing food prices, which have soared by a third in the past year
alone.
“If the situation persists, we could see an additional 3.5 million
severely food insecure Yemenis, or nearly 12 million in total, who urgently
require regular food assistance to prevent them from slipping into famine-
like conditions,” he warned.
This means the UN agency will need more funding, Verhoosel told AFP,
pointing out that “the more people (who need help), the more money is
needed”.
WFP is in the process of scaling up its activities in Yemen to provide
emergency food assistance to some eight million of the country’s hungriest
people each month, Verhoosel said.
But he lamented that due to the dire security situation in the port city
of Hodeida, the UN agency still did not have access to some 51,000 tonnes of
wheat stocks at its Red Sea Mills facility there, which would be enough to
feed 3.7 million people for a month.
“We are doing everything we can to ensure access to these wheat stocks,”
Verhoosel said. Yemen’s air, land and sea ports are currently functioning, so
WFP had several ships filled with aid headed towards Yemen, and is working to
reposition stocks in case routes are cut off, he said.
The agency has also begun using the port of Salalah in Oman as a
supplementary route, he said.
WFP currently has enough grains in Yemen to help 6.4 million people for
two months.
But Verhoosel warned that distribution across the country was difficult at
best, insisting that aid workers need access and guarantees that their
neutrality will be respected.
“We need an end to the fighting,” he said.
Yemen’s brutal conflict has since 2015 left some 10,000 people dead and
has created what the UN has dubbed the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
BSS/AFP/ARS/1855 hrs