US to send $165 million additional humanitarian aid to Yemen

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

On Monday, the United States announced $165 million in additional humanitarian aid for Yemen and called for other international donors, particularly those from across the region, to “step up their contributions”. This comes amidst the ravaging conflict between the Houthi rebels and the Saudi-led military coalition backing the Yemeni government.

The fighting is currently holding the country hostage and thus prolonging the suffering of the Yemeni people. In a call with reporters, US special envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking said that the relief is a continuation of the morethan-$3.6 billion already provided by the US since the crisis began. “Yemen continues to face the threat of mass famine, and humanitarian assistance is critical to preventing this,” Lenderking said.

“We also believe that taking immediate steps to mitigate the humanitarian crisis and save lives can contribute to progress on the peace process.” Lenderking noted that the humanitarian crisis is closely linked to the country’s economic crisis, and many Yemenis are relying on foreign assistance because normal economic activity has “broken down”.

This only adds to the urgency for other countries to provide additional aid, Lenderking said, and he looks forward to further discussing the issue at the UN General Assembly next month. “Yemen cannot wait,” Lenderking stressed.

“We have to ensure economic issues are a central priority in the peace effort going forward because economic grievances have driven the conflict from the beginning. “If we ignore these issues, we will not find a durable solution to the conflict. But until economic stability is restored, Yemenis will need additional humanitarian assistance to prevent a further deterioration in living conditions that will only make it harder to resolve the conflict.”

The US Agency for International Development’s (USAID) assistant administrator for humanitarian assistance Sarah Charles, who was also on the call, described the humanitarian crisis in Yemen as “one of the worst” in the world. “Two-thirds of the country needs humanitarian assistance—that’s more than 20 million Yemenis who struggle every day to survive without basic necessities including more than two million young children facing deadly malnutrition this year alone,” she said.

Charles said that the funding will allow the UN World Food Programme to continue to provide emergency food assistance to Yemenis, which would reach 11.5 million people every month. “This new funding is in addition to the humanitarian assistance we have already been providing, including emergency food aid, treatment, and prevention for malnutrition, basic necessities such as hygiene and shelter supplies for displaced families, rehabilitation of water tanks and pipes so that communities have safe water, and helping parents earn an income and rebuild their livelihoods,” she said.

Meanwhile, Lenderking raised the issue of the Yemeni government’s restrictions on fuel ships slowing down the amount of fuel going through Red Sea ports, and thus called for immediate action to lift these restrictions. Charles echoed this appeal, commenting: “Saudi Arabia, the Yemeni Government, and the Houthis must do their part to ensure that fuel is flowing into and throughout Yemen at prices Yemenis can afford so that they can access basic services and aid.”

Charles added that fuel prices are extremely high due to the Houthi stockpiling and price manipulation. “This behaviour must also stop or Yemenis will continue to suffer,” she said, as she pressed for continued efforts to find a solution to this and the broader economic crisis.