U.N. food chief says Yemen faces ‘ looming famine,’ needs millions

UNITED NATIONS — The head of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning World Food Program sounded an alarm Wednesday that wartorn Yemen faces “looming famine” and urged nations to provide hundreds of millions of dollars immediately, saying it will mean “the difference between life and death of millions of Yemenis.”

David Beasley told the U.N. Security Council that, according to the latest U.N. internal analysis, “famine is truly a real and dangerous possibility and the warning lights are flashing, and they’re not flashing yellow, they’re flashing red — as red can be.”

“We’re on a countdown right now to a catastrophe in Yemen,” he said. “If we choose to look away, there’s no doubt in my mind Yemen will be plunged into a devastating famine within a few short months.”

Yemen’s conflict started with Houthi Shiite rebels, backed by Iran, capturing Sanaa, the capital, in 2014, forcing the internationally recognized government to flee. The following year, a Saudi-led coalition supporting the government intervened to battle the rebels and curb Iran’s influence in what has turned into a stalemated regional proxy war. Since then, more than 100,000 people — fighters and civilians — have been killed.

Beasley said 9 million of the 13 million people the World Food Program is assisting — mainly in northern areas controlled by Houthi rebels — have already had their food aid cut from every month to every other month, and the agency is running out of money.

“Come January, we are going to have to cut rations additionally for 6 million people, and we will run completely out in March, and I cannot begin to tell you the catastrophe that will be,” he said.

U. N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock told the council the $ 3.4 million U. N. humanitarian appeal for 2020 for Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest country, has received only $1.5 billion, about 45%.