ADEN, Yemen, May 22 (NNN-SABA) – The Yemeni government praised the “courage and responsibility” of the World Food Programme (WFP), which warned that aid distribution could be suspended in the Houthi-controlled areas, due to lack of cooperation from the rebel group.
The WFP said that, “humanitarian workers in Yemen are being denied access to the hungry, aid convoys have been blocked and local authorities have interfered with food distribution.”
“Our greatest challenge does not come from the guns that are yet to fall silent in this conflict,” the WFP said. “Instead, it is the obstructive and uncooperative role of some of the Houthi leaders in areas under their control.”
The country’s capital Sanaa and most of Yemen’s densely populated northern provinces are controlled by the Iranian-backed Houthi group.
Commenting on the WFP’s report on Houthis’ diversion of humanitarian aid, Yemen’s Foreign Ministry, said that, “it showed the courage and responsibility of the officials running the WFP in Yemen.”
But the ministry criticised “the silence of some humanitarian organisations in Yemen about the Houthis’ unjustified practices on diverting humanitarian aid, arresting and threatening aid workers.”
The ministry called upon “the international community to take resolute measures to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches all those affected, without any hindrance from the Houthis.”
In Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, Yemen’s Prime Minister, Maeen Abdulmalik, held a meeting with UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mark Lowcock, to discuss the mechanisms for delivering humanitarian aid in Yemen.
Last week, Lowcock said to the UN Security Council, on the humanitarian situation in Yemen that, 10 million Yemenis are still reliant on emergency food assistance to survive, warning that, “the spectre of famine still looms.”
He added that, a resurgent cholera outbreak has already affected 300,000 people this year — compared to a total of 370,000 cases in the whole of last year.
Regarding current challenges, Lowcock said that, violence still rages in many areas.
The prolonged military conflict has aggravated the suffering of Yemenis and deepened the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.– NNN-SABA
