UN Will Likely Need $150Mln Monthly To Provide Food Security In Yemen - World Food Program

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th November, 2018) The United Nations is currently providing humanitarian support to eight million people in war-torn Yemen and expects that number to increase up to 14 million, which will require a monthly spending increase from the current $100 million to $150 million, UN World Food Program Executive Director David Beasley told reporters on Friday.

"We are supporting about eight million people now, and we expect that the new numbers come out in about two weeks that we very well may need and probably will need to ramp up to somewhere between 12 to 14 million people," Beasley said. "The numbers are now about 18 million people are food insecure, and the number I am talking about eight million up to 12 to 14 are severely food insecure. These people are literally marching toward the brink of starvation.

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Beasley explained that the World Food Program currently spends about $100 million per month on food security and commodities for Yemen.

"If we have to scale up to 12 to 14 [million], we will need about $150 million," Beasley said.

Yemen has been gripped by a civil war between President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi's government and the Shiite Houthi movement since 2015.

Since March 2015, Hadi's government forces are backed by the Saudi-led coalition that has been carrying out military operations targeting areas controlled by the Houthis.

The conflict has escalated this year in the region of Al Hudaydah, Yemen's largest Red Sea port, disrupting humanitarian supplies to the country and putting half of its population at risk of starvation.