Amid Yemen’s growing food crisis, humanitarian agencies including The World Food Programme (WFP) UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) are reorienting their efforts towards high-risk areas, delivering integrated support across food security, nutrition, sanitation, health, and protection to maximize life-saving impact.
“The fact that more and more people in Yemen don’t know where their next meal will come from is extremely concerning at a time when we are experiencing unprecedented funding challenges,” said Siemon Hollema, Deputy Country Director of WFP in Yemen.
WFP, UNICEF and FAO are urgently calling for sustained and large-scale humanitarian and livelihood assistance to prevent communities from falling deeper into food insecurity, and to ensure that the UN “can continue to serve the most vulnerable families that have nowhere else to turn,” he said.
Internally displaced persons, low-income rural households, and vulnerable children are particularly affected, and are now facing increased vulnerability, as approximately 2.4 million children under the age of five and 1.5 million pregnant and lactating women are currently suffering from acute malnutrition.
The situation is dire, but with urgent support, “we can revitalize local food production, safeguard livelihoods, and move from crisis to resilience building, ensuring efficiency and impact,” said FAO Representative in Yemen, Dr. Hussain Gadain.