Foreign Minister discusses with Regional Director of WFP humanitarian programmes in Yemen

Minister for Foreign Affairs, Eng. Hisham Sharaf Abdullah, on Wednesday discussed with the WFP Regional Director Corinne Flasher, its accompanying delegation, currently visiting Yemen, the programme’s humanitarian programmes and activities in Yemen.

In the meeting, the Minister of Foreign Affairs affirmed the National Salvation Government’s categorical rejection of any ideas or proposals related to reducing aid to the Yemeni people.

He stressed the importance of WFP playing its role in increasing assistance, stating that any reduction in assistance was in total contradiction with the United Nations’ statement that Yemen was experiencing the worst human-made humanitarian crisis of modern times.

Minister Sharaf considered that the decision to reduce assistance to Yemen was not right, it is an implementation of the desire of the aggression States at the expense of the needy Yemeni people. Yemen will not agree to the reduction of assistance as a commitment of the World Food Programme to eligible beneficiaries.

He encouraged WFP to adopt the cash assistance programme instead of in kind because it would reduce many of WFP’s expenditures.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs called on the World Food Programme (WFP) to issue an official statement explaining that he had reduced aid. The programme should follow up the countries of the US-Saudi-UAE aggression by paying the shortfall in funding, as they were fighting, besieging and causing suffering to the Yemeni people.

“The repercussions of the humanitarian catastrophe created by the aggression states have increased poverty among different groups of the people, especially those most in need of women, the elderly and children, and the World Food Programme (WFP) was expected to increase its humanitarian activities and assistance and to urge donors to meet their financial commitments rather than the announced reduction.”

For its part, the WFP Regional Director noted that WFP attaches the utmost importance to the humanitarian situation in Yemen and demands easy and unhindered access of food and humanitarian items, despite WFP’s funding shortfalls resulting from the failure of donor States to meet their commitments in full, which has a negative impact on its plans and activities.