Local Editor
The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) today welcomed a US$4.5 million contribution from the Government of Japan, to help WFP fight the devastating food crisis in Yemen, building on the US$12.99 million grant contributed by Japan earlier this year.
This latest contribution will allow WFP to meet the food needs of more than 760,000 desperately hungry people in Yemen through its general food assistance (GFA) programme, in addition to partly covering the monthly nutrition needs of more than 280,000 pregnant and nursing women across Yemen.
More than 17 million people, or two-thirds of the population, are suffering from hunger in Yemen. This includes around 6.8 million people who are suffering from extreme hunger and more than one million pregnant and nursing women who are acutely malnourished and face an increased risk of death and disease.
“At a time when millions of Yemenis face the very real prospect of famine, we would like to express our gratitude for the steadfast support of the people and Government of Japan for boosting their support to WFP,” said Country Representative and Director Stephen Anderson. “By making this second important contribution to WFP’s emergency response this year, Japan also sends a positive signal to other donors as needs are outstripping available resources.”
In Yemen, the needs are higher than ever and funding is urgently required to head off a disaster, especially with an escalating cholera outbreak.
WFP has been reaching some 4.5 million people on a monthly basis with life-saving assistance including people living in districts most at risk of tipping in to famine. During this year, WFP and its partners aim to provide food assistance to more than 9 million people suffering from extreme hunger and specialized nutritious foods to 2.9 million people mainly children under five years of age.
“Reaching out to vulnerable people in Yemen is Japan’s priority at this critical moment,” said Katsuyoshi Hayashi, Ambassador of Japan to Yemen. “We feel privileged to have a strong partnership with WFP that has been tackling the daunting task of alleviating hunger and malnutrition of the Yemeni people.”
In April 2017, WFP launched a new emergency operation to prevent famine and support longer-term recovery in Yemen. The new emergency operation will cost up to US$1.2 billion over a 1-year period to gradually scale up assistance to feed all severely food insecure people in Yemen every month. The success of this operation hinges on immediate sufficient resources from donors.
The Government of Japan has been one of WFP’s most consistent and reliable partners through funding food assistance to relieve the hunger crisis in Yemen.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by Website Team
