Foreign Secretary calls for international action and
announces new UK aid as report shows thousands of Yemenis are
facing “starvation, death, and destitution”.
The UK has announced emergency funding to help millions of people
in Yemen, as a new report says the worsening crisis has left
thousands living in ‘famine conditions’ and facing starvation,
death and destitution.
The Foreign Secretary has urged the international community to
step up, distribute pledged funds and support the peace process
to prevent the crisis worsening even further. Today’s
announcement of £14 million of new UK aid will help 1.5 million
households access food and medicines, and takes the UK’s
contribution to £214 million this year.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC)’s new
survey shows that 16,500 people are living in famine-like
conditions, a figure expected to almost triple by June 2021.
Overall 13.5 million people in Yemen are at risk of starving to
death or struggling to get enough food to feed their families
amid ongoing conflict.
The UK has been sounding the alarm on Yemen - in September, the
Foreign Secretary warned a specially-convened UN meeting that
famine was a significant risk unless donors urgently disbursed
their funding and increased support. The UK leads on Yemen at the
UN Security Council and is actively supporting Special Envoy
Martin Griffiths’ peace plan to end the conflict.
Foreign Secretary said:
Thousands of Yemenis are now living in famine conditions,
facing the daily threat of starvation and conflict.
New UK aid will save lives by making sure the poorest Yemenis
can feed their families. But the UK cannot solve this crisis
alone. Other donors must now release their funding and
contribute more support to prevent this becoming an even bigger
tragedy.
Famine was averted in Yemen in 2019 through an international
funding drive to to ensure UN agencies and NGOs were able to
provide food and support to those most in need. Since then,
funding to Yemen has significantly reduced. This year’s funding
is a record low, and only half of what has been requested by the
UN.
Tackling this crisis is a priority for the Foreign Secretary and
the UK’s first Special Envoy for Famine Prevention and
Humanitarian Affairs, . Since his appointment, Mr Dyer has met donors and
partners to discuss how to tackle extreme hunger in vulnerable
countries, including Yemen.
Notes to editors
- The UK is one of the biggest donors to the crisis, committing
over £1 billion in UK aid since the conflict began in 2015.
- Our existing £200 million funding for this financial year
will support to at least 500,000 vulnerable people each month to
help them buy food and household essentials, treat 55,000
children for malnutrition and provide 1 million people with
improved water supply and basic sanitation.
- In September, the Foreign Secretary announced a new £119
million aid package to tackle the combined threat of coronavirus
and famines, which is expected to help alleviate extreme hunger
for over 6 million people in Yemen, Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC), Somalia, Central African Republic, the Sahel, South Sudan
and Sudan.
- On 20 November, UN Secretary General Guterres warned that
‘Yemen is now in imminent danger of the worst famine the world
has seen for decades. In the absence of immediate action,
millions of lives may be lost’.
