Yemen: The World Food Programme (WFP) has stated that it is stopping food distribution in northern Yemeni areas under Houthi control because of a decrease in funding and disagreements with the organisation regarding prioritising the region’s poorest residents.
The World Food Programme (WFP) announced that it reached the decision after discussions with donors and over a year of negotiations that resulted in failure to bring the total number of individuals in need of assistance down to 6.5 million from 9.5 million.
Since the Yemen war broke out in 2014 between the Saudi-backed government and the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels, who took control of the country’s capital, Sanaa, and vast swaths of territory, the poorest nation on the Arabian Peninsula has been dealing with one of the worst humanitarian crises in history.
According to a statement from the UN agency, food supplies in areas under Houthi control “are now almost completely depleted and resuming food assistance, even with an immediate agreement, could take up to as long as four months due to the disruption of the supply chain.”
However, it stated that “as long as the agency has sufficient funding and the cooperation of the authorities” in Sanaa, the WFP would continue to carry out “its resilience and livelihoods, nutrition, and school feeding programmes.”
Food distribution in government-controlled areas of Yemen will continue, targeting “the most vulnerable families, aligning with resource adjustments announced last August,” as per the statement.
The WFP also had to cut country rations last year as a result of funding being depleted by global inflation, which increased following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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