Food Insecurity in Yemen Reaches Highest Level, Warns UN

Children wait for lunch at their hut in Sanaa, Yemen August 29, 2022 (Reuters)
Children wait for lunch at their hut in Sanaa, Yemen August 29, 2022 (Reuters)
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Food Insecurity in Yemen Reaches Highest Level, Warns UN

Children wait for lunch at their hut in Sanaa, Yemen August 29, 2022 (Reuters)
Children wait for lunch at their hut in Sanaa, Yemen August 29, 2022 (Reuters)

Statements attributed to a Houthi group leader denying that Yemenis in the militia-controlled areas lack access to adequate food, sparked anger across the country.

The Houthi leader statements coincided with a UN report confirming that Yemen's food insecurity crisis reached the highest recorded level in more than a year.

The World Food Program (WFP) said that in February 2024, more than half of the surveyed households in Yemen (53%) indicated lacking access to adequate food, reaching the highest recorded level over the past 17 months.

“This represents an increase by merely one percent from a month earlier and by eight percent compared to a year before,” WFP said.

It showed that the prevalence of inadequate food consumption reached 57% in February 2024, up by 10 percent year-on-year, mainly because the Yemeni riyal slid to an all-time low at end of February 2024.

Also, the report indicated that key drivers include low foreign currency reserves and revenue shortages due to reduced crude oil exports and remittance inflows.

It added that the worsening economic situation has also led to rising food and fuel prices to unprecedented levels, leaving many households unable to access to adequate food.

A WFP analysis data also revealed that nearly 17% of surveyed households in government-controlled areas reported high food prices as a main challenge to access an adequate diet, threatening to worsen the food security situation in the coming period, especially given the lack of funding for the program.

Also, around 51% were unable to access adequate food in areas under the Houthi-controlled areas, an increase of 11% compared to November and by eight percent year-on-year.t

Meanwhile, the WFP warned that the repercussions of the current tension in the MENA region, coupled with the gap triggered by the pause in food assistance could negatively impact food prices in the Houthi-controlled areas during the coming months.

Earlier, Yemeni activists circulated statements attributed to Houthi leader Nasr al-Din Amer, in which he denied that Yemenis in the militia-run areas lack access to adequate food.

“There is no hunger in Yemen, and no beggars in Sanaa,” he stressed.

Amer claimed that beggars arrested in the streets of the capital were members of the General Popular Congress party, led by former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, accusing its leaders of attempts to tarnish the Houthi image.
His statements sparked widespread ridicule and controversy on social media. Activists shared photos and documents proving that Houthi leaders, including Amer, had gained fortune during the coup years compared to the widespread manifestation of hunger and poverty among residents in their controlled areas.

Yemeni activist Ismail al-Jarmozi revealed some figures from Amer’s monthly allowances, which amount to more than $4,500. He wrote that with a similar salary, it is normal for Amer not to feel hungry or understand poverty as the rest of the Yemenis do.



Lebanon's Salam Calls for 'Full Israeli Withdrawal' while Visiting Border Areas

Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam checks a map surrounded by Lebanese army soldiers as he visits the sourthern village of Khiam near the border with Israel, on February 28, 2025. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam checks a map surrounded by Lebanese army soldiers as he visits the sourthern village of Khiam near the border with Israel, on February 28, 2025. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
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Lebanon's Salam Calls for 'Full Israeli Withdrawal' while Visiting Border Areas

Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam checks a map surrounded by Lebanese army soldiers as he visits the sourthern village of Khiam near the border with Israel, on February 28, 2025. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam checks a map surrounded by Lebanese army soldiers as he visits the sourthern village of Khiam near the border with Israel, on February 28, 2025. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)

Lebanon’s new prime minister, Nawaf Salam, used a tour on Friday of areas near the border with Israel that suffered wide destruction during the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war to call for an Israeli withdrawal and promised residents of border villages a safe return to their homes and reconstruction.
Salam's visit came two days after his government won a vote of confidence in parliament.
“This is the first real working day of the government. We salute the army and its martyrs,” Salam said in the southern port city of Tyre while meeting residents of the border village of Dheira. “We promise you a safe return to your homes as soon as possible.”
The government is committed to the reconstruction of destroyed homes, which “is not a promise but a personal commitment by myself and the government,” Salam added.
Israel withdrew its troops from much of the border area earlier this month, but left five outlooking posts inside Lebanon, in what Lebanese officials called a violation of the US-brokered ceasefire that came into effect on Nov. 27, ending the war.
Salam said his government is gathering Arab and international support in order “to force the enemy to withdraw from our occupied lands and the so-called five points.”
“There is no real and lasting stability without full Israeli withdrawal,” he said.
During his tour, Salam -- who also visited the southern cities of Marjayoun and Nabatiyeh — praised the UN peacekeeping force, known as UNIFIL.
In mid-February, UNIFIL’s outgoing deputy commander was injured when Hezbollah-linked protesters attacked a convoy taking peacekeepers to the Beirut airport.
On Friday, three judicial officials told The Associated Press that 26 people have been charged in the attack on UNIFIL, including five who are in detention and the rest remain at large.
The officials said 26 have were charged late Thursday by the Military Court’s Government Commissioner Judge Fadi Akiki with terrorism, undermining state authority, robbery and forming a gang to carry out evil acts. The judicial officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said those charged could get up to life in prison.
The officials also said that a bag was stolen from UNIFIL’s convoy that had about $30,000 in cash and that the money is still missing.