WFP distributes food vouchers as famine threatens Yemen

Record ID: 109668

  • Title: WFP distributes food vouchers as famine threatens Yemen
  • Date: 23rd March 2016
  • Summary: SANAA, YEMEN (MARCH 17, 2016) (REUTERS) PEOPLE GATHERING AT SCHOOL WHERE U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) ARE DISTRIBUTING FOOD VOUCHERS SIGN ON SCHOOL BUILDING READING (English and Arabic): 'FOOD ASSISTANCE TO VULNERABLE POPULATION IN YEMEN' MEN STANDING IN QUEUE VARIOUS OF WFP STAFF SITTING AT TABLE AND DISTRIBUTING VOUCHERS PEOPLE GATHERED OUTSIDE FOOD DISTRIBUTION CENTR
  • Embargoed: 7th April 2016 16:44
  • Keywords: Yemen WFP famine food vouchers Sanaa U.N. World Food Programme
  • Location: SANAA, YEMEN
  • City: SANAA, YEMEN
  • Country: Yemen
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
  • Reuters ID: LVA0014A5D9W5
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Nearly half of Yemen's 22 provinces are on the verge of famine as a result of the war there and more than 13 million people need food aid, the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) says.
    Aid groups have blamed curbs imposed by the Saudi-led coalition on access to Houthi-controlled ports for the crisis and also accuse Houthis of preventing supplies from reaching some areas.
    To counter the food crisis, the WFP has launched a programme of emergency food vouchers to provide up to one million people with basic needs.
    "From a food security perspective, 10 of Yemen's 22 provinces are classified as emergency, which is one step before famine. We must not wait until we reach the point of famine and we must provide immediate humanitarian assistance," said Adham Musallam, deputy director of the WFP office in the capital Sanaa.
    Fighting over the past year has displaced about 2.3 million people and left more than half of Yemen's 26 million population in need of food aid, Musallam said.
    He said that each month the WFP are able to help more people.
    "In February, we provided assistance to 120,000 people, and every month we will increase the number of people that are benefiting from this programme by 100,000 people. So, the plan is to try to reach 1 million people by the end of the year. This is in addition to the direct aid that we provide that now reaches about 3.2 million people, making the total number of people receiving assistance at around 4 million," he said.
    The Houthis took over Sanaa in September 2014, ousting President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, then seized his temporary headquarters in the southern port city of Aden.
    The Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in March 2015 to try to restore Hadi to power and roll back Houthi gains. More than 6,200 people have been killed in the conflict, half of them civilians.
    In Sanaa, which is still under Houthi control, hundreds of people queued for hours to register for the vouchers.
    Under the programme, a family of six receives wheat grain, pulses, vegetable oil, salt and sugar provided by the WFP through a local supplier.
    But one Sanaa resident expressed concern that the aid might not be sustained.
    "What we are asking for is for them to give us a family's food needs for a whole month, not one week or five days. What are we supposed to do the rest of the days?" said Abu Ali.
    Another resident said that what Yemen needed most of all was an end to the war.
    "The Yemeni people understand how much they need humanitarian assistance but what they really need is an end to the war which is more important. Western nations must work to stop this criminal war against the oppressed Yemeni people. They kill and carry out bloody ugly massacres and in return distribute bags of wheat. We must stop the war first," added Radman Hassan.
    Many Yemenis have sought refuge in Sanaa after air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition destroyed their homes, especially in northern Yemen, where the Houthis, a Zaydi Shi'ite group, come from.
    The United Nations, which had hosted two inconclusive rounds of peace talks in Switzerland last year, is pressing ahead on the diplomatic front for another round of negotiations.
    A senior Yemeni official said this week that negotiations might take place in Kuwait next month.
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