Yemenis forced to beg as food prices skyrocket, Oxfam warns

Malnutrition is forcing Yemenis to beg, Oxfam warned yesterday, adding that the country had suffered food insecurity prior to the recent spike in food prices as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In a statement Oxfam Country Director in Yemen, Ferran Puig, said: “The world must not look away while Yemen suffers. Even before the Ukraine conflict drove up food prices and threatened food imports, two-thirds of major aid programs had already been reduced or closed because of lack of funding.”

He added, “We’re witnessing the effect of this ―the malnutrition we see every day is heart-breaking, more and more people are reduced to begging and we’ve already had to cut some of our services.”

Those who were previously secure and able to provide for themselves and their families can no longer do so. There is a fuel crisis, a currency crisis and a health crisis ―the country is already on life support.

Puig called on the international community to “step in to save Yemen by negotiating peace to allow a lasting recovery.”

Yesterday, the UN announced that it had received financial pledges from 36 donors worth $1.3 billion for its humanitarian plan in Yemen for 2022. UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, was seeking to obtain $4.27 billion during the conference, which is the cost of the UN plan for Yemen this year, which aims to reach 17.3 million people.

For over seven years, Yemen has been witnessing a continuous war between forces loyal to the legitimate government, backed by an Arab military coalition led by neighbouring Saudi Arabia, and the Iranian-backed Houthis, who have controlled governorates, including the capital, Sanaa, since September 2014.

As of the end of 2021, the war claimed 377,000 lives and cost Yemen’s economy $126 billion in losses, according to the UN. Most of the country’s population, about 30 million, became dependent on aid, in what has been described as one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.

READ: UN Chief says at least 10,000 children killed in Yemen conflict