Local Editor
The Red Crescent Society in violence-hit Yemen called on the international community to provide more humanitarian aid to the Yemeni families displaced in the wake of Riyadh’s military campaign.
Head of the Society Hussian Saleh told Press TV on Friday that over 20,000 families are currently in urgent need of basic aid, and food donations are quickly running out amid rising demands to mitigate hunger.
The remarks came on the same day that the United Nations said a third of Yemen’s 22 provinces are on the brink of famine, warning that more than half of the country’s population is going hungry.
“We are deeply concerned that Yemen is on the brink of famine,” Bettina Luescher, a spokeswoman for the UN's World Food Program, told reporters in Geneva on Friday.
“Out of the 22 (provinces), seven are in emergency phase four, and that is one level before declaring a famine,” she said.
Luescher stressed that even the Yemenis that are lucky enough to get aid are not receiving all the nutrients they need as full rations cannot be afforded.
“Lack of funding, the ongoing conflict, restricted movement of humanitarian aid workers are the major obstacles to get food and other assistance to the people,” she said.
Yemen is among the four countries of the world that are currently facing the risk of famine, and more than 20 million are facing starvation in the country, according to the United Nations.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by Website Team
