Yemen: Why is the world’s worst humanitarian crisis ignored?

On Monday, March 28 at 19:30 GMT:
Afflicted by widespread hunger, disease and displacement, Yemen’s dire humanitarian crisis is expected to worsen in the coming months, international aid organisations say. Caught between a protracted war and economic collapse, at least 17.4 million people – more than half of the country’s population – are in need of food assistance.

Though the UN considers Yemen the world’s worst humanitarian disaster, a recent pledging conference failed to raise enough money to prevent further catastrophe. Only $1.3bn of a $4.3bn donation goal was raised to address Yemen’s food insecurity.

Earlier this year the World Food Programme was forced to reduce food rations for eight million people, due to their own funding shortages. The projection for famine is expected to grow five-fold and affect 161,000 people by June.

Food prices have doubled across much of Yemen in the past year, and with the war in Ukraine expected to cause a surge in the price of wheat globally, more Yemenis may be forced into needing food assistance. Yemen’s food supplies are mostly imported and the country obtains about a third of its wheat from Ukraine.

In this episode of The Stream, we’ll discuss Yemen’s humanitarian needs and what should be done to end the crisis.

On this episode of The Stream, we speak with:
William David Gressly, @DavidGressly
UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen

Abeer Etefa, @AbeerEtefa
Senior spokeswoman, UN World Food Programme

Sama’a Al-Hamdani, @Yemeniaty
Analyst