PRESS RELEASE: UK and Sweden call on the international community to act now to prevent starvation in Yemen
On 10 December, the UK and Sweden hosts a specially-convened event during the UN’s annual Humanitarian Week to shine an urgent spotlight on the worsening situation in Yemen and discuss how to avert possible famine.
The UK and Sweden convened UN leaders, international governments and Yemeni social advocates to highlight the lack of funding hampering the humanitarian response in Yemen. The co-hosts encourage donors to step up with new funding before the end of this year and to prepare to give early and generously in 2021.
The event highlights the critical role of the economy in preventing famine and called on all stakeholders to take steps to strengthen Yemen’s economy functioning and avoid measures that could weaken it further. New data shows that the worsening crisis has left thousands living in ‘famine conditions’ and facing starvation.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC)’s new survey shows that 16,500 people are living in famine-like conditions, a figure expected to almost triple by June 2021. Overall 13.5 million people in Yemen are currently at risk of starving to death or struggling to get enough food to feed their families amid ongoing conflict. By June 2021 this number may have increased by 3 million, meaning more than half of the country may live in acute hunger.
In September, the UK Foreign Secretary announced $30.8 million of new UK aid to Yemen and warned a UN meeting that famine in Yemen was a significant risk unless other donors urgently disbursed their funding and increased support. Again on 3 December, he announced a further UK allocation of $18 million to Yemen which will help 1.5 million households access vital food and medicine, bringing total UK funding to Yemen in 2020 to $286 million.
Sweden announced an additional contribution of $3.5 million to WFP’s operations in Yemen during the event, bringing their total humanitarian support to Yemen to close to $50 million for 2020. This is in addition to Sweden’s significant core funding to major UN agencies operating in Yemen such as the WFP, to which Swedish core funding amounted to some $100 million in 2020.
Speaking at the event, Nick Dyer, the UK’s first-ever Special Envoy on Famine Prevention and Humanitarian affairs, said:
The shadow of Yemen’s hunger risks darkening the country’s next five decades. We - the international community - can change this course. But that requires urgent action now, including disbursing funds to the UN’s Humanitarian Appeal, further hard currency support to the Central Bank of Yemen and pressure on the parties to come together urgently for new UN-led peace talks.
Speaking at the event, Swedish State Secretary for International Development Cooperation Per Olsson Fridh said:
“Yemenis are already starving to death. We have a moral obligation to prevent a famine threatening the lives of millions more, but it cannot be done without more humanitarian funding. If we fail to step up now, there are no excuses.”
Sir Mark Lowcock, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator and former British civil servant, said:
“Yemenis are being starved. Anyone who’s not sure what that means for millions of people should take a look at the photos on my Twitter feed.”
Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director, said:
“Children are bearing the brunt of Yemen’s devastating nutrition crisis. Over 2 million are acutely malnourished and nearly 358,000 severely malnourished children could die without urgent care. Now more than ever, we need political action and support for the UN peace process, full humanitarian access on the ground, and significant additional funding to help avoid the impacts of a potential famine.”
Amir Abdulla, Deputy Executive Director, WFP said:
“This is the final warning for action. Life for millions in Yemen is a daily struggle and each day the situation for most vulnerable becomes more precarious. We have prevented famine in Yemen before – through a coordinated humanitarian response supported by the international community. We only can do it again if we respond together – and we must act now. The window to prevent famine narrows with each passing day.”
Dr Sawsan Al Refaei, Youth Leadership Development Foundation/ Women’s Pact for Peace and Security, said:
“When women and girls go hungry, that means that a whole generation of girls will be impacted and pregnant and lactating mothers suffer from high levels of malnutrition, negatively affecting the health and cognitive abilities of future generations. Gains for women and girls in areas of education, economic participation and ending gender- based violence will be reversed.”