The United States, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is providing $431 million in additional humanitarian aid to the people of Yemen. This brings the total amount that the US government has provided to Yemen’s humanitarian response to more than $1 billion in FY 2022.
Years of conflict – along with an economic crisis, high levels of unemployment, and rising food and fuel prices – have left more than 19 million Yemenis in need of food aid. Russia’s unprovoked continued invasion of Ukraine has a particularly negative effect on Yemen, where imports account for 90 percent of the country’s food. This funding will allow USAID partners to continue to reach millions of vulnerable Yemenis with emergency food assistance, treatment for malnutrition, protection, and safe drinking water and improved sanitation services.
This announcement comes as the parties to the conflict agreed to extend the UN-led ceasefire for an additional two months. The ceasefire has provided the Yemeni people with a temporary respite from this devastating war, and it makes clear that only a political agreement between the Yemeni parties can permanently resolve the conflict and reverse the dire humanitarian situation. Until then, humanitarian aid is essential to save lives and reduce suffering, but it must be able to reach the people who need it most. It is necessary that the Houthis open roads in Taiz and other governorates. All parties must take steps to uphold their obligations under the current UN ceasefire to ensure a safe operating environment and facilitate access for aid workers. We urge all parties to work constructively with the UN Special Envoy to agree on the expanded proposal that will improve freedom of movement, increase salary payments and pave the way for a durable, Yemeni-led solution to the conflict.
The Yemeni people deserve peace. The United States stands by the people of Yemen and will continue to work with our partners to provide life-saving assistance to those in need. But we can’t do it alone. It is imperative that other donors and the international community step up now to fill the massive funding gaps so that partners can respond at scale, save lives and prevent conditions in Yemen from worsening.
This funding was made available after the full balance of the Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust, and from the $2.76 billion included in the emergency supplemental funds announced by President Joe Biden on June 27, 2022. USAID is immediately committing these new funds to address the dire effects of the global food security crisis through direct food assistance and related health, nutrition, protection and water, sanitation and hygiene services to countries with high levels of acute food insecurity, reliance on Russian and Ukrainian Imports, and vulnerability to price shocks.
For the latest updates on USAID’s humanitarian assistance in Yemen, visit here.
