$4.3bn needed to prevent Yemen hunger crisis, says UN

The United Nations (UN) said on Wednesday that $4.3bn is the amount that the organisation will need to address Yemen’s food shortages this year. The UN believes that around 161,000 people are likely to experience famine in 2022 and they called it “the world's worst humanitarian crisis”.

Ahead of a high-level pledging conference which will be co-hosted by Sweden and Switzerland, the UN said that three out of four Yemenis will depend on food assistance in 2022 and it hopes that the participating nations will be able to pledge the necessary amount for the aid of the war-torn nation.

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“As of now, funding is drying up and agencies are stopping their work in Yemen,” UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths told Al-Jazeera. “We need to replenish the food pipeline, provide shelter and send a message to Yemenis that we do not forget them.”

According to an Associated Press report, at the beginning of the year, the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) was forced to reduce food rations for eight million people due to a funding shortage, with households receiving barely half of the WFP standard daily minimum food basket.

The report also stated that last year's conference raised only $1.7bn for Yemen afterthe UN asked for $3.85bn.

The war in Yemen started back in 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi rebels captured a major part of the country’s northern regionincluding capital Sanaa. Months later, an US-backed coalition led by Saudi Arabia intervened in order to defeat the rebels and restore the recognised government.

The situation in Yemen has beengrim for quite some time and it seems that the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis may end up making things worse. Ukraine supplies around 40 per cent of Yemen’s grains and with the country under attack, the supplies may stop for the time being.

(With agency inputs)