Humanitarian organizations warn of looming food crisis if immediate resolution to negotiations is not reached
With a joint statement, twenty-two humanitarian organizations in Yemen, including INTERSOS, have expressed deep concern regarding the World Food Programme’s (WFP) recent announcement of a “pause” of the General Food Assistance (GFA) program, which will impact 9.5 million people experiencing food insecurity across northern Yemen.
The suspension of food assistance reportedly comes after unsuccessful negotiations between
Ansar Allah and WFP to reach an agreement on reductions to food assistance, which have
been ongoing for nearly one year. Global humanitarian funding cuts have resulted in the need to
retarget to reach the most vulnerable. Due to the disruption of food supply chains caused by this
pause, it will take at least four months for the resumption of food assistance, even if an
agreement is reached.
The decision to pause food assistance will exacerbate the already critical humanitarian
situation, disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable populations, including children,
pregnant women and the elderly, leading to malnutrition, worsening health conditions, increased
economic strain, and potentially fueling social unrest and conflict.
According to the WFP, there are currently 17 million people – more than half of the population of
Yemen – at crisis and emergency levels of food insecurity (IPC 3 and 4), including 2.2 million
malnourished children and 1.3 million pregnant and breastfeeding mothers. Food assistance
has been critical to averting disaster in Yemen, where an estimated 6.1 million people are just
one step away from famine.
The NGOs undersigning the document call on WFP and AA to reach an agreement allowing the
resumption of principled food assistance to the most vulnerable communities in Yemen. The
international community and donors should urgently mobilize additional resources to mitigate
the impact of the suspension particularly through scale-up of nutrition as well as health and cash
assistance. Donors should also provide funding for resilience building and development
programming to enable communities to recover from the impact of the war and economic
decline while also ensuring those in need of humanitarian assistance are not left behind.Ngo