Aid groups warn of catastrophic food crisis in Yemen

Impoverished Yemenis go through rubbish dumps to find things to recycle Saudi Arabia has promised to give its impoverished neighbor Yemen aid worth $3.25 billion, Saudi foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told a meeting in Riyadh on Wednesday. “To ensure Yemen’s security and stability, the kingdom will provide $3.25 billion to support development projects there which will be agreed upon with the Yemeni side,” he said at the opening of the Friends of Yemen meeting. Yemeni prime minister Mohammed Basindwa urged at the meeting for aid for his country which was rocked by an uprising last year that forced former strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down in February.
"The hope is in the political and economic cupport needed to overcome the transitional period and put an end to the budget deficit," Basindwa said.
"We are confident that you realise the danger and sensitivity of the situation in Yemen which needs lots and lots to recover... We seek your help, don't fail us." Basindwa said.
Seven aid groups on Wednesday warned Western diplomats that Yemen was on the brink of a "catastrophic food crisis" and urged them to bolster efforts to salvage the situation as they meet in Riyadh for an international conference to help the nation.
"Yemen is on the brink of a catastrophic food crisis," the seven agencies which include Oxfam, CARE and Save the Children, said in a joint statement released Wednesday ahead of the Friends of Yemen meeting.
The agencies called on ministers from the wealthy Gulf countries and Western nations due to attend the meeting to "scale up efforts to tackle" the problem.
At least 10 million people, some 44 percent of the population, do not get "enough food to eat", it said, adding that one in three children was "severely malnourished".
Penny Lawrence, international director at Oxfam, who is visiting Yemen said that "Yemenis have exhausted their ways of coping...and a quarter of the population have fallen into debt trying to feed their families".
She said even as donors are focused on politics and security issues which continue to plague the impoverished nation's development and stability, their "failure to respond adequately to the humanitarian needs now will put more lives at risk".
Oxfam, in a separate report released with the statement, even accused international donors of "finding reasons not to give" aid.
So far only 43 percent of $455 million earlier asked by UN and other partner organisations have been received for humanitarian aid for Yemen, with ongoing conflicts in the country's northern and southern provinces only exacerbating the crisis.
In the last two months alone, aid agencies say more than 95,000 people have been forced to flee their homes, bringing the total number of displaced to more than half a million.
In April the International Monetary Fund resumed lending to Yemen, approving the payment of a $93.7 million loan to help the country address a balance of payments deficit that worsened during the political turmoil.
Yemen is expected to ask donors for about $10 billion in urgent aid at the two-day meeting in Riyadh which will include representatives from the European Union, the United Nations, the United States, and the oil-rich Gulf neighbours.
The group will discuss political developments since president Ali Abdullah Saleh stepped down in February, his 33-year rule in the Arabian Peninsula state ended after nearly a year of protests.
In a recent interview with AFP in Sanaa, Yemen's planning minister Mohammed al-Saadi said the funds were needed for "economic recovery and to stabilise the economy and the currency".
He said despite the fact that a Friends of Yemen meeting is often focused on the political and security aspects of the country's transition, the "figures will be discussed".
Western diplomats, however, say they will only make financial commitments at a formal donor conference, known as the Consultative Group Meeting, to be held in early July.
Wednesday’s meeting is the group’s first since Saleh stepped down to allow the election of a new president, Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi, in February for a two-year transition period.