Yemen under pressure of hunger; UN warns of crisis of 17 million

Afghan Voice Agency (AVA) – Kabul: The United Nations has announced in its latest report that 17 million Yemenis are suffering from acute hunger and this figure is expected to increase.

 

Joyce Masouya, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, while presenting a report on food insecurity caused by the war in Yemen, said that damage to infrastructure in the country has disrupted the import process and the ongoing conflict has also caused population displacement and exacerbated the economic recession.

 

She added that 17 million people are still suffering from acute hunger in Yemen and predictions indicate that another million will be added to this number.

 

Food insecurity in Yemen is “a clear example of the link between violence and hunger,” he said. He explained that attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure are causing the abandonment of farms, disrupting food supply chains, driving up prices and destroying livelihoods.

 

He also said that restrictions on aid and insecurity have made it difficult to deliver aid to vital areas of Yemen.

 

Meanwhile, the World Bank has warned of a growing hunger crisis in Yemen, saying that more than 60 percent of families are struggling to afford food, forcing many to resort to extreme options such as begging.

 

The World Bank said that Yemen’s economy has been under severe pressure in the first half of this year due to “the ongoing blockade of oil exports, high inflation and reduced aid, amid the cumulative effects of years of conflict and divisions in government institutions.”

 

The Israeli regime and the United States have carried out airstrikes on Yemen, targeting a number of vital and civilian facilities in the country, especially power plants and ports; attacks that have caused power outages and halted the activities of ports that are the lifeline for the entry of humanitarian goods and the main route for Yemeni oil exports.