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Thursday, September 23, 2021

Not to be forgotten - The Yemen Famine

 The media is very fickle. A headline today and tomorrow disappears into the inside pages, then the story is forgotten all about. 

At least 5 million people in Yemen are on the brink of famine and a further 16 million are “marching toward starvation”, according to experts from the World Food Programme (WFP) 

Supply chains in the country had been disrupted and food prices were “spiking”.

WFP’s executive director David Beasley said: “With food pricing and the lack of fuel, it is catastrophic..."

 Without further funding, the organisation will be forced to cut 3.2 million people’s food rations by October, a number rising to 5 million people by December.

The WFP’s spokesperson for Yemen, Annabel Symington, said that Yemenis have been left unable to afford basic food supplies. “The causes of the hunger crisis in Yemen are complex, but the impact on Yemenis is clear. The devaluation of the Yemeni riyal and soaring food prices have made it impossible for ordinary Yemenis to afford basic foods,” she said.

Adam Kelwick, a humanitarian aid worker for the NGO Action For Humanity, visited al-Sabaeen hospital, in the western city of Sana’a and said it was “full to the brink” with starving, malnourished children.

“They had to expand into other wards to accommodate all these children,” he said. “It was a horrific scene where there were beds full of children who looked like skeletons. It’s clear to see the situation is rapidly deteriorating and the reason children are so severely malnourished is because their mothers are malnourished as well..."

He explained something that socialists have often had to point out is that "There is food in Yemen but it’s expensive and out of people’s budgets.” Kelwick said a woman, who lives on the outskirts of Sana’a, Yemen’s capital city, told him her family earns $100 (£73) a month, but it is not enough to afford basic food supplies. “She said their money doesn’t go anywhere any more. Prices for everything have increased."

16 million in Yemen ‘marching towards starvation’ as food rations run low – UN | Hunger | The Guardian

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