UN Reaches Agreement With Yemen Rebels To Resume Food Deliveries

The World Food Program has reached an agreement in principle with Yemen's Huthi rebels to resume food aid to areas they control, the agency's chief said on Thursday

United Nations, United States, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Jul, 2019 ) :The World Food Program has reached an agreement in principle with Yemen's Huthi rebels to resume food aid to areas they control, the agency's chief said on Thursday.

Malnutrition is widespread in Yemen after four years of civil war, but the UN suspended deliveries of food aid to rebel-held areas of the country last month following accusations of "diversion of food." The new agreement with the Huthis will allow food to be quickly delivered to the rebel-held capital Sanaa, though the two sides haven't formally inked the deal yet, WFP chief David Beasley told the UN Security Council.

"I can say that we have made substantial progress," he said during a meeting to discuss Yemen, in which he joined UN humanitarian officials in underlining the dire humanitarian situation in the country.

"Around 30 million people live in Yemen, and more than two-thirds of them are food insecure. That's 20 million women, men, boys and girls," he said.