UN sees ‘severe increase’ in Yemen hunger rate
The crisis in Yemen spiralled after a Saudi-led coalition launched an offensive to support the government against Houthis in March 2015
GENEVA: The UN warned on Tuesday of a “severe increase” in Yemen’s hunger rate and cautioned the situation would deteriorate further in 2019, when four million more people are expected to need food aid.
The head of the World Food Programme, David Beasley, told reporters that a food security survey due to be published later this week would show “a severe increase in hunger rate” in the country. “We are seeing the severe hunger rate spike, from eight million to 12 million,” he said, stressing that “these are the people who are on the brink of starvation... These are people who don’t know where the next meal is coming from.”
“This is not a country on the brink of catastrophe. This is a country that is in a catastrophe,” Beasley said.
The UN humanitarian agency, OCHA, meanwhile listed the humanitarian crisis in Yemen as its top concern going forward.
“The country with the biggest problem in 2019 is going to be Yemen,” OCHA chief Mark Lowcock told reporters in Geneva as he released the agency’s projected global humanitarian needs assessment for next year.
He said that in 2017, the UN had provided food assistance to three million people a month in Yemen.
That figure rose to eight million per month this year and should hit 12 million in 2019, Lowcock added. The numbers are devastating, but Beasley said it remained unclear if all conditions had been met for a full-fledged famine to be declared, according to the socalled Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) scale.
But, he stressed, “to me, it is bad. It is bad enough and we don’t need to be waiting for it to be declared a famine.”
“We need to be all hands on deck, because usually once a famine has been declared you are way behind the curve.”
The crisis in Yemen spiralled after a Saudi-led coalition launched an offensive to support the government against Houthi rebels in March 2015.
The situation has worsened in recent months due to a broad economic collapse and rising violence in the rebel-held port of Hodeida, a crucial import hub for food and other basic supplies.
Lowcock said the UN as a whole is asking for $4.0 billion (3.5 billion euros) to help suffering Yemenis next year. Beasley said WFP alone needs around $160 million each month just to cover the most desperate food needs.