Yemen is facing a food crisis of “catastrophic proportions,” with almost half the population going hungry and a third of children in some areas severely malnourished, aid agencies have warned.
A coalition of six humanitarian organizations — Care International, International Medical Corps, Islamic Relief, Mercy Corps, Merlin, Oxfam and Save the Children — is urging the international community to step up aid before Yemen slides further into poverty and political instability.
Yemen’s already precarious state was highlighted on Monday when a suicide bomber attacked a military parade, killing more than 90 people and wounding at least 220. The bombing, one of the deadliest in recent years, was a setback in Yemen’s battle against al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamists and it has heightened concerns over a country in the frontline of the US global war on militants.
The aid agencies — which point out that the UN’s humanitarian appeal has received only 43 percent of the funding it needs — urged delegates at yesterday’s Friends of Yemen conference to do more to tackle the food crisis.
The agencies say hunger in Yemen has doubled since 2009 and was exacerbated by last year’s political upheaval, which saw former president Ali Abdullah Saleh ousted from power after 33 years and replaced by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
“Yemeni families are at the brink and have exhausted their ways of coping with the crisis,” said Penny Lawrence, Oxfam’s international director. “Failure to respond adequately to the humanitarian needs now will put more lives at risk, further entrench poverty and could undermine political transition.”
Her fears were echoed by Jerry Farrell, Save the Children’s director in Yemen.
“Political instability, conflict and high prices have left families across the country going hungry,” he said. “Unless urgent humanitarian action is taken, Yemen will be plunged into a hunger crisis of catastrophic proportions.”
Fighting in the north and south of the country has forced nearly 95,000 people to leave their homes over the past two months, bringing the total number of those displaced to close to half a million.
UN estimates, meanwhile, put the number of children facing life-threatening malnutrition at 267,000. Oxfam has also reported an increase in early marriage as families marry off their daughters young in order to ease the burden of the crisis.
Although the UN has asked for US$447 million of aid, it is thought it will increase its appeal substantially next month as the situation in Yemen worsens.
“The hungry of Yemen cannot wait,” said Hashem Awnallah, director of Islamic Relief Yemen. “Donors need to heed the lessons of the Horn of Africa and respond now before the crisis further deepens.”
Britain, which co-chaired the Friends of Yemen conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, has promised £28 million (US$43.9 million) of aid to the country, but warned that Monday’s suicide bombing underlined the severity of the situation.
British International Development Minister Alan Duncan said the aid — which is to be delivered through agencies — would provide both immediate help and a “foundation for progress.”
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese