UN Will Cut Food Aid for Millions of Yemenis, Again

by | Jun 29, 2022

UN Will Cut Food Aid for Millions of Yemenis, Again

by | Jun 29, 2022

The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) will drastically scale back its humanitarian aid to Yemen – where it provides emergency food assistance to more than 13 million people – citing funding shortfalls and soaring prices around the globe.

The WFP’s Yemen branch announced the decision on Sunday, stating that “critical funding gaps, global inflation and the knock-on effects of the war in Ukraine” have forced the agency to make significant cuts, which it said would have “devastating impact” on Yemen’s poorest.

“WFP touches the lives of more than half the people of Yemen with over 19 million transfers covering a variety of monthly activities. 13 million people, who are considered the most needy, receive emergency food assistance,” it said.

“We are now being driven to scale back that support for 5 million of those people to less than 50% of the daily requirement, and for the other 8 million to around 25% of the daily requirement.”

In addition to slashing food rations, the org said 4 million people would no longer have access to “resilience and livelihood activities,” as well as “school feeding and nutrition programs,” due to the cuts.

The WFP warned in May that it had raised only a quarter of its $2 billion funding target, and that it would have to cut back aid to Yemen if it didn’t meet its goals, having already reduced food assistance for 8 million Yemenis last January. Two weeks ago, the agency also cut aid to 1.7 million people in South Sudan due to a deficit of nearly $500 million. 

Though Yemen’s hunger crisis is years in the making, the ongoing war in Ukraine has helped to drive up global food prices since late February, exacerbating problems in what was already the poorest nation in the Middle East. 

A $40 billion aid package for Ukraine passed by US lawmakers in May devoted $5 billion to help alleviate food shortages abroad, but while military hardware has freely flowed to the government in Kiev, the aid project has encountered inexplicable delays. More than a month after the measure was signed into law, the Joe Biden administration still has yet to distribute any of the assistance, with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) simply pointing to “logistical challenges.”

Despite those setbacks, Biden announced yet another food initiative on Tuesday after meeting with leaders of the G7, stating that the US would offer $2.76 billion in humanitarian and economic aid to countries in need, $760 million of which will be allocated to “sustainable near-term food assistance.” It’s unclear what proportion of those funds, if any, will be sent to Yemen.

While unmentioned in the WFP statement, Yemen’s humanitarian crisis is the result of an eight-year blockade and bombing campaign waged by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, with heavy backing from Washington. Several members of Congress have cosponsored a War Powers bill that would require the White House to end military support for Riyadh, though similar measures have failed to pass for two years straight.

Bipartisan House Bill Pushes to End US Intervention in Yemen

Kyle Anzalone and Will Porter

Kyle Anzalone and Will Porter

Kyle Anzalone is the opinion editor of Antiwar.com and news editor of the Libertarian Institute.

Will Porter is the assistant news editor of the Libertarian Institute and a staff writer and editor at RT.

Kyle Anzalone and Will Porter host Conflicts of Interest along with Connor Freeman.

View all posts

Our Books

Shop books published by the Libertarian Institute.

libetarian institute longsleeve shirt

Support via Amazon Smile

Our Books

libertarian inst books

Recent Articles

Recent

News Roundup 11/19/2024

News Roundup 11/19/2024

Russia Kremlin Reiterates Putin’s View on US-Supported Long-Range Strikes in Russia AWC Hungary and Slovakia Slam US Decision To Support Long-Range Strikes in Russia AWC China US, Philippines Sign New Intelligence and Weapons Technology Sharing Agreement AWC North...

read more
News Roundup 11/14/2024

News Roundup 11/14/2024

Trump Real Estate Executive Steven Witkoff to Be Special Envoy to the Middle East X Trump Picks John Ratcliffe To Lead CIA AWC American Jury Orders Military Contractor to Pay $42 Million to Iraqi Men Tortured in Abu Ghraib X Trump Welcomes Hawks Back to Washington The...

read more
News Roundup 11/12/2024

News Roundup 11/12/2024

Trump Trump Picks Rep. Mike Waltz as National Security Advisor AWC Trump Nominates Rep. Elise Stefanik as Ambassador to UN AWC Ukraine Zelensky Felt Reassured After Call With Trump X Biden Will Send American Military Contractors to Ukraine X Kremlin Denies Report of...

read more

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This