The US government’s aid cuts in northern Yemen are “increasingly out of step” with realities on the ground and civilians are paying the price, six international relief organizations told John Barsa, acting administrator for the US Agency for International Development (USAID), in a letter obtained by Al-Monitor. 

"Time is running out for tens of millions of Yemenis," wrote the executives at the International Rescue Committee, Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Oxfam America, CARE, Save the Children USA and Mercy Corps. "Humanitarians have stayed and delivered in Yemen in the midst of complex crises. But our ability to do so now is jeopardized unless the U.S. changes course."

Nearing its sixth year, the war in Yemen has created what the United Nations describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Hunger stalks the region’s poorest country, with half of all children under the age of five expected to be malnourished by the end of the year. 

Diseases like cholera, diphtheria and now the coronavirus run rampant, and the recent deadly flooding has added to Yemen’s woes. Roughly 80% of the population relies on some form of humanitarian aid to survive, and yet the United Nations has received only 21% of its $2.4 billion humanitarian appeal this year for Yemen.