Houthi rebels outhi in Yemen called this week for the resumption of food aid distribution and warned of “dangerous stages of famine,”.
The request came during a meeting in Sanaa on Wednesday between Markus Werne, director of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Yemen, and a Houthi official.
The U.N. official stressed that the United Nations is working to mobilize the funds needed to resume food aid distribution in Yemen.
In December, the World Food Programme announced the suspension of its assistance to Houthi-controlled areas after disagreement over the WFP's plan to reduce the number of people benefitting from its assistance from 9.5 million to 6.5 million due to a lack of funding.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has repeatedly warned of alarmingly high levels of malnutrition in Yemen.
According to figures by the UN agency, an estimated 5 million children in the country are acutely malnourished, with around 6.1 million people on the verge of famine.
The United Nations has renewed its warnings of food insecurity plaguing Yemen.
Edem Wosornu, director of operations and advocacy at OCHA, told the UN Security Council on Monday that despite some relief registered during the holy month of Ramadan, thanks to charities, remittances and community-led initiatives, more is needed to prevent a worsening of food and nutrition security in the country.
Speaking on behalf of OHCA chief Martin Griffiths, Wosornu called on the UN and its partners to exert more effort to help “keep hunger at bay.”
Wosornu further expressed her concerns to the Security Council over the “alarming resurgence of cholera” cases in Yemen, specifically in Houthi-held territories, since last October.
“As of April 7, more than 11,000 suspected cases have been reported in these [Houthi] areas with 75 associated deaths,” she warned. In comparison, about 3,200 suspected cases have been reported in government-controlled areas since October.
Wosornu called on the international community to support the United Nations to secure much-needed funding and supplies to help curb the spread of cholera.