Ahmed Shaaban, Ahmed Atef (Aden, Cairo)
Yemen faces a serious humanitarian challenge after the World Food Program announced the suspension of the distribution of humanitarian aid in areas under the control of the Houthi group.
Yemeni human rights activists warned of a humanitarian catastrophe as a result of this decision, which came due to limited funding and the failure to reach an agreement with the group to implement a smaller program commensurate with the available resources and targeting the most vulnerable and needy families.
The World Food Program stated that this difficult decision was taken after nearly a year of negotiations, during which an agreement was not reached to reduce the number of beneficiaries of direct food aid from 9.5 to 6.5 million people.
The Yemeni lawyer and human rights activist, Saffron Zayed, said that the decision to stop aid in Houthi-controlled areas is an additional disaster, especially since the decision came in light of a state of economic collapse as a result of the Houthis’ violations, their plundering of public money and private property, restrictions on commercial activities, and obstructing the work of relief and business workers. Humanity.
Saffron stressed in a statement to Al-Ittihad that the decision of the “programme” deprives millions of Yemenis of assistance they desperately need, and also leads to the collapse of the social system, and a complete lack of livelihood for these people who lose their right to life, even with its minimum requirements, calling for To work urgently to secure effective and direct means and mechanisms for those entitled to food aid.
For his part, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Human Rights in Yemen, Nabil Abdul Hafeez, expressed:
He expressed his concern about the cessation of aid in these areas, pointing out that 70% of food aid goes to other parties and does not reach those entitled to it as a result of Houthi control, but this small percentage alleviates the crisis that the Yemenis are suffering from in these areas.
Abdel Hafeez indicated in a statement to Al-Ittihad that international organizations working within the framework of relief and providing aid have been asked to have integrated coordination between legitimate government agencies and international organizations, so that we can develop a map to absorb and distribute aid correctly, and within the framework of the areas under control. The Houthi group must search for ways to deliver aid away from Houthi interference.
Abdel Hafeez pointed out that there is an urgent need for a real strategy for the organizations to work within their correct framework, and to work with transparency and governance, so that we can understand the problems and difficulties and work to address them, especially since the UN resolution makes us feel concerned about the residents of these areas, especially since most of them have entered the stage of extreme poverty and hunger.
Yemeni political analyst Mahmoud Al-Taher revealed in a statement to Al-Ittihad that the Houthi group is using the decision to suspend aid as a means to punish the Yemeni people, reject the justice that international humanitarian institutions seek to achieve, and exploit aid to sell it on the black market and manipulate it or use it to force families to recruit their children.
In turn, Yemeni political analyst Faris Al-Bail pointed out that stopping the distribution of aid by the World Food Program reveals the Houthis’ lack of cooperation in the distribution process, stressing that it has exacerbated poverty and the humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen, due to the plundering of aid and obstruction of the efforts of humanitarian organizations, which ultimately led to… To the decision to suspend aid.
The humanitarian crises in Yemen have worsened recently as a result of the ongoing conflict in the country, which makes international humanitarian aid of great importance in meeting the needs of families and alleviating their suffering from poverty and hunger.
A few days ago, complaints were issued by residents of Ibb Governorate due to the Houthi group obstructing and preventing the arrival of food aid sent to them by international humanitarian organizations, amid local accusations that the Houthis confiscated the aid that arrived before the decision to suspend aid and was directed to the poorest groups, and sold it in the markets for their benefit.
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