$4.3bn needed to prevent Yemen hunger crisis, says UN
Categories: FOREIGN COUNTRIES
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”.“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 after the UN asked for $3.85bn.The situation in Yemen has been grim 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.