WFP Appeals for Access and Resources to Prevent Famine in Yemen (For the Media)

ADEN/SANA’A – The Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme, Ertharin Cousin, who has been visiting Yemen, urged the international community to help prevent a famine by providing resources to meet the immediate needs of the severely food insecure. Cousin also pleaded with the warring parties and authorities in Aden and Sana’a for access to reach hungry people who will die if they do not receive food and nutrition support. Yemen, Somalia and northeastern Nigeria are each on the brink of a famine. Last month, famine was declared to be affecting parts of Unity State in South Sudan. As the poorest country in the region, Yemen has suffered from decades of chronic food insecurity, and the situation has deteriorated rapidly in the last two years due to the ongoing conflict.