The United Nations World Food Program announced on Wednesday that it will be forced to provide reduced food rations in Yemen due to lack of funding, starting next month.
In a statement posted on its website, the WFP warned that “the necessary funds are running out to continue providing food aid to the 13 million people it supports in Yemen.”
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“From next January, 8 million people will receive reduced food rations,” he added.
While the five million people at risk of falling into famine-like conditions will continue to receive full rations.”
“These cuts come at the worst possible time for families in Yemen who depend on food aid from the World Food Program to survive,” the statement continued.
Corinne Fleischer, WFP Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said:
“Every time we reduce the amount of food, we know that more people are already suffering from hunger and food insecurity.
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Thus, they will join the ranks of the millions who are at risk of starvation,” according to the same statement.
And she added, “But difficult times require difficult measures, with limited resources available, we must give priority to those who are in the most dangerous situations.”
With the reduction of food aid from next January, families will get barely half of the minimum daily food ratio, according to the statement.
For nearly 7 years, Yemen has been witnessing a continuous war between forces loyal to the government backed by an Arab military coalition led by neighboring Saudi Arabia.
And the Iranian-backed Houthis, who have controlled several governorates, including the capital, Sanaa, since September 2014.
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The war cost the country’s economy $126 billion in one of the world’s worst humanitarian and economic crises.
Most of the population of 30 million depends on aid, according to the United Nations.
