Yemenis go hungry as UN-rebel tiff disrupts aid
The United Nations' World Food Programme says 850,000 Yemenis will be affected by its partial aid suspension in Sanaa as the UN and the Houthi rebels argue about food quality and black market resale.
SANAA, Yemen — As the United Nations' partial suspension of aid to Yemen’s capital Sanaa enters its fourth week — with no hope of resumption — Um Ahmed, 60, sees little hope of feeding her two sons and providing them with the medical treatment they need. The aid suspension across Sanaa has left parents like Um Ahmed destitute and perplexed as they watch their children waste away.
“I have two sons suffering from health problems. One has cancer and the other suffers from a mental illness,” Um Ahmed told Al-Monitor as she drove on a minibus June 28 in the Shoob district.
All passengers on the bus blamed both the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the Houthi government for doubling their suffering.
Um Ahmed received a bag and half of flour per month along with peas or lentils before the WFP aid was suspended. She would sell either the half or the whole bag to buy cancer medication for her son. Following WFP accusations that Houthis were selling food aid on the black market right in front of schools where the organization would distribute the food, people stopped selling them.
