As the window to stop the return of the drought in Yemen is rapidly closing, UN agencies have warned that new assessments show that millions of people could be heading for starvation in the coming months.
The warning was echoed by the World Health Organization’s Food Security Assessment, which found that thousands of people had drowned in the drought – a number that is projected to triple in the first half of next year – while millions have seen food consumption decline.
An estimated 16,500 people are now facing a “catastrophic, drought-like situation,” which could rise to 47,000 by June 2021.
The new figures were released as aid agencies warned that less than half of the so-called emergency funds to help Yemen had been delivered by the UN this year. Last month, UN humanitarian chief Mark Locock told the UN Security Council that the $ 3.4bn ((2.5bn) appeal for 2020 for Yemen had received only bn 1.5bn, or about 45%.
He said that by this time last year, the U.N. Twice – got about 3 billion b.
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Rabe announced an additional 14 14 million in emergency funding for Yemen, which he said would take the UK’s contribution to 21 214 million this year.
A joint statement from the World Food Program, UNICEF and the Food and Agriculture Organization said that more than half of Yemen’s 30 million people are at risk of “rising hunger levels” by mid-2021, according to an assessment released on Thursday.
The analysis warns that the number of people facing food insecurity in Phase 4 – the Crisis Phase – is set to rise from 6.6 million in the first half of 2021 to an ised million – which, without changing the course, will leave the country in the lurch.
The five-year war has left families exhausted and people extremely vulnerable to shock.
“These alarming numbers must be a wake-up call for the world. Yemen is on the brink of famine and we should not retreat millions of families anymore, said David Beasley, executive director of the World Food Program.
Muhsin Siddiqui, Yemen’s director of Oxfam, said: “It is unbearable that millions of Yemenis are one step away from drought and struggling with conflict, covid and cholera as well as devastating levels of hunger.
“And yet, donors have given half of the money needed this year to provide basic needs such as clean water, food and medicine to the most vulnerable.
“As the world struggles with the economic consequences of the epidemic, the international community must not forget the world’s most vulnerable people, who urgently need help to save lives, and make every effort to ensure a peaceful settlement of this conflict.”
The conflict in the Arab world’s poorest country began when Iran-backed Shiite rebels, known as the Houthis, seized Sanaa’s capital in 2014, forcing the internationally recognized government to flee.
The following year, a Saudi-led coalition backing the government intervened to fight the rebels and prevent Iran’s influence in what has turned into a stable regional proxy war. Since then, more than 100,000 people – fighters and civilians – have been killed.
“Make no mistake, 2021 will be even worse than 2020 for Yemen’s weakest people,” Beasley added. “Drought can still be prevented – but that opportunity is slipping away with the passing of the day.”
In recent months, humanitarian aid to Yemen has declined significantly as Arab donor countries have failed to deliver on previous promises.
Earlier this year, cuts in humanitarian support, including food aid, reversed previous food security benefits and left families with food gaps, the agencies said. “The cut will continue next year and may be extended, unless funding is received immediately.”
