World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

The World Food Programme (WFP) said Wednesday it is scaling up efforts to feed 3.5 million people who are facing hunger in strife-torn Yemen.

The UN World Food Programme said Wednesday that more Yemenis were going hungry because of rising food prices and severe fuel shortages brought about by months of political unrest. "Rising food prices and political instability have left millions of people in Yemen hungry and vulnerable," WFP executive director Josette Sheeran said in an emailed statement.

Over one million Yemenis did not receive emergency food rations in September because of low funding for the UN World Food Programme (WFP). The UN food agency depends on voluntary donations from the international community.

Aid workers say Yemen is on the verge of a humanitarian disaster; but as needs in the country increase, the delivery of aid is becoming ever more complicated. (..) The World Food Programme (WFP) has seen a steady increase in the number of people it is feeding - from some 30,000 in June to 63,000 today, according to the WFP director in Yemen, Lubna Alaman.

Deputy Foreign and Expatriates Minister Dr. Fayssal Mikdad discussed on Monday with Regional Director of the UN World Food Program (WFP) for the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and Central Asia Al-Dali Balqassemi cooperation between Syria and the WFP and means for developing it.

News about Yemen is dominating the airwaves following the killing of the Al Qaeda leader there. Far less reported is the suffering of those displaced by the fighting between the government and Al Qaeda-linked militants. Abeer Etefa of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) just visited the southern port city of Aden and witnessed the terrible conditions in which displaced Yemenis are living.

UNICEF reports there are "very high" malnutrition rates among children under 5 years of age in the Hajjah governorate of Yemen. (..) The UN World Food Programme says, "the proportion of underweight children is the third highest in the world after India and Bangladesh."

As fighting intensifies in Yemen's capital of Sanaa, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has been forced to limit hunger relief operations in that area. The United Nations is evacuating some of its staff from Sanaa.

Clashes between protesters and authorities in the Yemeni capital Sanaa have intensified over the past two days (..). According to the World Food Program, prices for staple foods in Yemen have risen by nearly 50 percent since protests began last February.

Families in parts of Yemen are in dire need of assistance as crippling food prices and fuel shortages drive them to breaking point, according to a new report released today by the international aid agency, Oxfam. (..) The World Food Programme is also facing a shortfall of nearly $60m, around a third of its overall annual budget in the country leaving hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people without the support they need.