US announces $165 million in new humanitarian assistance for Yemen

Men sort food donations for delivery in Aslam, Yemen. The US announced an additional $165 million in humanitarian aid. (File/AP)

• USAID calls on other donors to step up their contributions to help the Yemeni people
• US says recent escalation of violence in Marib is only increasing humanitarian needs

LONDON: The US envoy to Yemen, Tim Lenderking, announced nearly $165 million in new humanitarian assistance for Yemen, the State Department said on Monday.
The funding, issued from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), “will provide lifesaving aid for Yemenis continuing to face humanitarian crisis after almost seven years of war that has left 20 million people struggling to survive without basic necessities, including more than two million young children facing deadly malnutrition,” the statement said.
The aid will go toward helping the UN World Food Program to continue providing emergency food assistance to more than 11 million people every month, including in communities affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, in an effort to prevent.
The USAID called on other donors to step up their contributions to help deliver critical assistance to the Yemeni people, but said the US reiterates that only a political agreement can address the root causes of the crisis in the war-torn country.
“The United States calls on all parties to the conflict to end the fighting and ensure needs do not continue to worsen,” USAID said, adding that aid alone cannot meet the vast and growing humanitarian needs in Yemen. 
“Aid from the international community has so far prevented people from slipping into famine, the recent escalation of violence in Marib is only increasing humanitarian needs as it threatens to displace hundreds of thousands of people, placing further strain on an already stretched humanitarian response,” it said.
The Iran-backed Houthi militia mounted a brutal offensive to take control of oil and gas-rich Marib in February, sparking widespread international condemnation, particularly since the governorate has served as a safe haven for internally displaced people who have been fleeing the fighting since the conflict began in 2014.
The US remains the largest single donor of humanitarian assistance in Yemen, providing more than $3.6 billion to alleviate suffering of the Yemeni people since the crisis began.