WFP Cuts Food Rations in Yemen

Eight vessels carrying wheat for WFP had arrived in Yemen from Ukraine since the initiative started in July 2022 (WFP)
Eight vessels carrying wheat for WFP had arrived in Yemen from Ukraine since the initiative started in July 2022 (WFP)
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WFP Cuts Food Rations in Yemen

Eight vessels carrying wheat for WFP had arrived in Yemen from Ukraine since the initiative started in July 2022 (WFP)
Eight vessels carrying wheat for WFP had arrived in Yemen from Ukraine since the initiative started in July 2022 (WFP)

The World Food Program announced it had to cut the food rations of more than 10 million Yemenis by 35 percent due to a lack of funding, and warned that it might have to take additional steps in the absence of direct grants.

In its Yemen Food Security Update released early this week, the Program said that during January-May 2023, the overall food imports saw a decrease by 28 percent through Red Sea ports and by 11 percent via the southern ports of Aden and Mukalla compared to same period in 2022.

By May 31, eight vessels carrying wheat for WFP had arrived in Yemen from Ukraine since the initiative started in July 2022, the Program noted.

It said essential food items were reportedly available across the Yemeni markets, however close monitoring is necessary for the upcoming months in light of the low levels of food imports.

Currently, WFP is targeting 13 million people each distribution cycle with reduced rations equivalent to 65 percent of the standard food basket.

Due to the ongoing critical shortages in funding, WFP was compelled to shift more than 900,000 beneficiaries from cash-based to in-kind food assistance starting the fourth distribution cycle.

According to the WFP update, the prevalence of inadequate food consumption bounced back to pre-Ramadan levels, increasing from 36 percent in April to 45 percent in May.

Northern and southern areas remained at worrying levels of food insecurity during May, yet households in the south were slightly worse off.

Around 48 percent of the surveyed households in government-controlled areas could not meet their minimum food needs compared to 44 percent in areas under Houthi authorities.

Meanwhile, it said the cost of the minimum food basket (MFB) remained almost unchanged in Yemen compared to the previous month. Year-on-year, the cost of MFB slightly increased by two percent in government-controlled areas while it significantly decreased in areas under the militia authorities (by 18 percent).

At the energy level, the update said the steady flow of fuel into Yemen has been maintained since the activation of the truce in April 2022.

“During January-May 2023, the total volume of imported fuel through Red Sea ports was nearly double the level of imports during the same period last year,” it said.

Also, there are 10.4 million people assisted by WFP in Yemen in May, 17 million people food insecure, 6.1 million people in IPC Phase 4 (Emergency) and 3.5 million people acutely malnourished.

The fifth Yemen Situation Report for this year showed a partial IPC food security analysis covering 118 districts (of the 333 districts total) controlled by the internationally recognized government of Yemen.

“For the January-May 2023 period, the analysis shows a slight improvement in the food security situation in IRGcontrolled areas as compared to 2022, with 3.5 million people in IPC Phase 3 (Crisis) and above,” it said.

However, the analysis projects a deterioration for the June-December 2023 period, with the number of people in IPC Phase 3+ increasing by 20 percent, to 3.9 million.



Sudan Army Says Recaptures Key State Capital

Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP
Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP
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Sudan Army Says Recaptures Key State Capital

Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP
Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP

The Sudanese army said Saturday it had retaken a key state capital south of Khartoum from rival Rapid Support Forces who had held it for the past five months.

The Sennar state capital of Sinja is a strategic prize in the 19-month-old war between the regular army and the RSF as it lies on a key road linking army-controlled areas of eastern and central Sudan.

It posted footage on social media that it said had been filmed inside the main base in the city.

"Sinja has returned to the embrace of the nation," the information minister of the army-backed government, Khaled al-Aiser, said in a statement.

Aiser's office said armed forces chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had travelled to the city of Sennar, 60 kilometres (40 miles) to the north, on Saturday to "inspect the operation and celebrate the liberation of Sinja", AFP reported.

The RSF had taken the two cities in a lightning offensive in June that saw nearly 726,000 civilians flee, according to UN figures.

Human rights groups have said that those who were unwilling or unable to leave have faced months of arbitrary violence by RSF fighters.

Sinja teacher Abdullah al-Hassan spoke of his "indescribable joy" at seeing the army enter the city after "months of terror".

"At any moment, you were waiting for militia fighters to barge in and beat you or loot you," the 53-year-old told AFP by telephone.

Both sides in the Sudanese conflict have been accused of war crimes, including indiscriminately shelling homes, markets and hospitals.

The RSF has also been accused of summary executions, systematic sexual violence and rampant looting.

The RSF control nearly all of the vast western region of Darfur as well as large swathes of Kordofan in the south. They also hold much of the capital Khartoum and the key farming state of Al-Jazira to its south.

Since April 2023, the war has killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted more than 11 million -- creating what the UN says is the world's largest displacement crisis.

From the eastern state of Gedaref -- where more than 1.1 million displaced people have sought refuge -- Asia Khedr, 46, said she hoped her family's ordeal might soon be at an end.

"We'll finally go home and say goodbye to this life of displacement and suffering," she told AFP.