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Yemen FM: UN obstructing aid access

October 30, 2017 at 2:43 pm

UN medical and food aid in Taiz, Yemen, on 4 March 2017 [Abdulnasser Alseddik/Anadolu Agency]

Yemen’s foreign minister has accused the United Nations of obstructing humanitarian pathways for crucial aid in Yemen, Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported.

“The lack of adequate coordination between the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Yemen and legitimate government of Yemen is affecting the performance of the United Nations,” Abdulmalik Al-Makhlafi said yesterday in a meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, at the King Salman Centre Relief and Humanitarian Action.

“Continuous communication and meetings of officials of the Office of the Coordinator in Yemen with the concerned government authorities in the temporary capital Aden or the Saudi capital Riyadh can resolve many problems,” Al-Makhlafi continued.

The UN agency offices and distribution centres are currently located in the capital, Sana’a, which is under the control of the Iranian-backed Houthi armed group.

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Al-Makhlafi stressed the importance of seeking other alternative ports, including Aden, to deliver critical aid.

Yemen has endured a brutal civil war since 2014. With the UN warning that an estimated 17 million people – 60 per cent of the total population – are food insecure while seven million do not know where their next meal is coming from and are at risk of famine as a result of the unrest.