In response to today’s Virtual High-Level Pledging Event on the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen, Ferran Puig, Oxfam’s Country Director in Yemen said:
“The world must not look away while Yemen suffers. Even before the Ukraine conflict drove up food prices and threatened food imports, two thirds of major aid programs had already been reduced or closed because of lack of funding. We’re witnessing the effect of this – the malnutrition we see every day is heart-breaking, more and more people are reduced to begging and we’ve already had to cut some of our services. The 17.4 million people currently going hungry are at real risk of becoming acutely malnourished and many are likely to die unless the funds needed are donated by the international community.
“Seven years of war have destroyed Yemen’s economy, creating ripples of misery for everyone. Those who were previously secure and able to provide for themselves and their families can no longer do so. There is a fuel crisis, a currency crisis and a health crisis – the country is already on life support. The international community must step in to save Yemen by negotiating peace to allow a lasting recovery.”
Scott Paul, Oxfam America’s Senior Manager of Humanitarian Policy, added:
“We welcome the US’ announcement of $585 million – this shows a strong commitment to helping meet Yemenis’ immediate needs. As we know, however, humanitarian assistance will not meet the immense needs of the Yemeni people or resolve the crisis. As the parties to the conflict continue to cynically put the lives of Yemenis at risk for their own political gain, the US government is coming under renewed pressure from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to advance their interests in Yemen over those of the Yemeni people. Yielding to this pressure would represent a reversal of the promise that President Biden made upon entering office to put Yemenis at the center of his Yemen policy."
Ends
Notes to editors:
- Today, the UN called for $4.27 billion to fund essential humanitarian work for 2022. Last year the UN ask for $3.85 billion was 60% underfunded. At the start of this year, two thirds of major UN aid programs had already been reduced or closed with further cuts to come unless more funds are provided.
- Yemen hunger figures https://twitter.com/theIPCinfo/status/1503355889918562308
- 2021 Yemen HRP called for $3.85 billion https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-humanitarian-response-plan-2021-march-2021-enar
- In 2021 $2.3 billion was received according to the UN
- The World Food Program warned last month that they were on the verge of halving food rations to 8 million people WFP David Beasley https://twitter.com/WFPChief/status/1496874689209278465
- Oxfam America previously published a release warning against the US designating the Houthis as a terrorist group: Oxfam warns of deadly consequences should Biden administration move forward with Houthi terrorist designation | Oxfam (oxfamamerica.org)
- Yemeni civil society organizations issued this joint statement: https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/joint-cso-statement-pledging-event-enar