SANA'A -

The scene was chaotic in front of the World Food Program (WFP) office in the village of Bait Al-Ghabban in Dhamar Governorate, central Yemen. Hundreds were waiting for the program's delegates to arrive to begin the process of delivering the wheat that arrived a few days ago to the warehouses.

Men, women and children from the surrounding villages raced to get their share of humanitarian aid, the last time they got it was in early April, causing them to have a food crisis.

Frustration dominated Muhammad Ali, who was revolving around the store, hoping to obtain other aid. This time the food basket was limited to one bag of wheat weighing (50 kilograms) only, and the other items disappeared.

Hajar Muhammad, a delegate who worked as a volunteer in a number of relief organizations, says that reducing the amount of aid to this extent would be a disaster for the population who have become dependent on it.

She added to Al Jazeera Net, "The food basket included 1.5 bags of white or red flour, 4 kilograms of white beans, peas or lentils, salt, two 4-liter oil cans and two kilograms of sugar."

Hajar talks sadly about the fate of thousands and says, "God protects people. The food basket used to arrive at the beginning of each month, and now it is more than two months late, yet only a bag of wheat remains."

Displaced people from Hodeidah governorate depend mainly on aid (Al-Jazeera)

lack of funding

The situation is the same in the displacement camps in Marib Governorate, in the center of the country, which includes more than two million displaced people.

The last convoy of aid arrived a week ago, after it stopped last April, according to Khaled Al-Shajni, head of the Executive Unit for the Displaced Persons of the Yemeni government.

About 80% of the population of Yemen, numbering 30 million, depend on aid provided by the United Nations, but fears became greater with the announcement of the Food Program, the suspension of all resilience and livelihood activities in Yemen, starting from this June.

In its recently released monthly report, the program attributed this to funding shortfalls, disruptions in food supplies, and to its need for an estimated budget of $1.5 billion to continue its activities from June to December.

The report said that it is inevitable to cut additional aid during the coming months in light of its urgent need for a financing budget estimated at about $1.5 billion.

The disruption of global wheat supplies caused by the conflict in Ukraine threatens to exacerbate the food security crisis in Yemen, with the escalation of global wheat prices, the program said.


A threat to the armistice

This risk is magnified with OCHA reporting that aid agencies remain concerned that the humanitarian crisis in Yemen will deteriorate sharply in the coming months due to economic problems, including a weak currency and higher commodity prices due to the Ukraine war.

Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the United Nations, said that the Yemen humanitarian response plan for 2022 is only 26 percent funded, forcing basic programs to reduce or close completely, which puts the lives of millions at risk.

Al-Shajni added to Al-Jazeera Net that "cutting aid will also undermine the prospects for further political progress, after all the hard work that was done in agreeing and extending the last truce."

But Al-Shajni also says that the best solution is for UN agencies to develop programs to finance livelihoods in governorates that witness a concentration of displaced people, noting that many agencies are no longer operating in Marib.

"The livelihood projects have no presence in Marib, which is hosting the largest number of displaced people," the UN official said.

He added, "The displaced depend heavily on humanitarian aid, and if the situation is cut off, the situation will be catastrophic and we will face a major humanitarian problem, including the spread of malnutrition, especially in the destitute families who rely heavily on aid."

He asserts that "a large number of displaced people live on food baskets as a main source, especially families whose breadwinners were injured or killed during the war."

Yemeni women sit in a camp for the displaced near the capital, Sanaa (European)

Evolution of the humanitarian crisis

  • According to a longitudinal study of the Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies (Yemeni non-governmental organization) published in March, Yemen did not experience famine according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, which means the absolute inability to access food for an entire population group or a subgroup of the population, which could cause death in the short term.

  • Prior to the start of the conflict, approximately 15 million people were believed to be in need of humanitarian support.

  • In 2017, around 17 million Yemenis were classified as facing acute food insecurity.

  • In late 2017, after the Saudi-led coalition tightened movement in Yemen's land, air and sea ports, the United Nations warned of the largest famine the world has seen in many decades that could lead to the death of millions.

  • In October 2018, the United Nations began referring to the food security situation in Yemen as a possible famine.

  • In 2020, the United Nations said 13.5 million people faced high levels of acute food insecurity, despite continued humanitarian food assistance.


IDPs without aid

Fares Al-Masoudi, a displaced person in a camp in the city of Al-Khoukha, western Yemen, is suffering from the endless difficulties of life, while the new measures of the World Food Program have exacerbated his suffering.

He told Al Jazeera Net, "We (we cannot) live (we can survive) except on the aid provided to us, and if they stop it (stop it) on us, we will be facing a great ordeal... We do not have any other food source."

While Al-Masoudi was speaking, Yemen's permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Abdullah Al-Saadi - during his meeting with the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General of the United Nations on addressing the situation of internal displacement, Robert Pepper, on Friday - was calling on the United Nations and the international community to redouble efforts in the delivery of aid. for 3 million displaced people.