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1.3 Million Yemenis Depend on US Assistance

Workers load up onto the back of a truck sacks of food supplies at the Red Sea port of Hodeidah in western Yemen, April 5, 2022. (AFP)
Workers load up onto the back of a truck sacks of food supplies at the Red Sea port of Hodeidah in western Yemen, April 5, 2022. (AFP)
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1.3 Million Yemenis Depend on US Assistance

Workers load up onto the back of a truck sacks of food supplies at the Red Sea port of Hodeidah in western Yemen, April 5, 2022. (AFP)
Workers load up onto the back of a truck sacks of food supplies at the Red Sea port of Hodeidah in western Yemen, April 5, 2022. (AFP)

USAID has pledged to continue distributing aid to Yemen, including to areas controlled by the Houthi militias who have increased their campaign of arrests against staff from UN agencies and international organizations.

The agency said it has provided assistance through partners to more than 1.3 million Yemenis, amid the high level of food insecurity due to economic deterioration and diminishing livelihoods.

In a recent report, USAID said its partners continue to provide emergency food assistance, including US sourced commodities and cash vouchers to shop at local markets.

For example, one partner provided cash to nearly 6,800 host community families, and some 2,000 internally displaced families, and allocated these amounts to food purchases.

In government-controlled areas, the agency also distributed aid in Abyan, Al Dhalee and Lahj governorates through the provision of life-saving food voucher assistance complemented with nutrition-related activities.

It also offered assistance to more than 1,800 households in Houthi-controlled areas in the governorates of Jawf and Marib during April.

The agency said it provides monthly support to distribute unconditional food assistance designed to meet 80% of the average daily calorie requirement for each household member.

Also, USAID partners are providing multipurpose cash assistance (MPCA) to cover other costs - including shelter and hygiene items - throughout Yemen to support food insecurity, and improve household purchasing power, according to the report.

It said while the UN World Food Program’s (WFP) general food assistance (GFA) program remains paused in the Houthi-controlled areas, USAID partners continue to provide food assistance to support vulnerable households.

With the US government support, International Organization for Migration (IOM), UNHCR, and three NGOs provide MPCA to conflict-affected households across Yemen to meet their basic needs and reduce the use of negative coping strategies, while also supporting local markets.

USAID data also reveals that Houthi-controlled areas suffer from inadequate levels of food consumption, adding that the nationwide rate of inadequate food consumption rose from 51% in April to 58% last May.

It warned that this trend significantly worsened in the Houthis-controlled areas, where it increased by 78% year-on-year, compared to 52% in government-controlled areas.

It said the overall volume of food imports via all Yemeni seaports increased by 22% during the first five months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.

Deterioration of Health

USAID said that almost a decade of conflict has led Yemen to experience devastating outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, especially among children.

It said displacement, economic deterioration, low incomes and overcrowded living conditions in internally displaced persons camps, along with a burdened health system and low immunization rates, have contributed to the resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases.

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UN Food Agency Says Its Food Stocks in Gaza Have Run out under Israel’s Blockade

A girl puts a pot to her head as Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, April 24, 2025. (Reuters)
A girl puts a pot to her head as Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, April 24, 2025. (Reuters)
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UN Food Agency Says Its Food Stocks in Gaza Have Run out under Israel’s Blockade

A girl puts a pot to her head as Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, April 24, 2025. (Reuters)
A girl puts a pot to her head as Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, April 24, 2025. (Reuters)

The World Food Program says its food stocks in the Gaza Strip have run out under Israel’s nearly 8-week-old blockade, ending a main source of sustenance for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the territory.

The WFP said in a statement that it delivered the last of its stocks to charity kitchens that it supports around Gaza. It said those kitchens are expected to run out of food in the coming days.

Some 80% of Gaza’s population of more than 2 million relies primarily on charity kitchens for food, because other sources have shut down under Israel’s blockade, according to the UN. The WFP has been supporting 47 kitchens that distribute 644,000 hot meals a day, WFP spokesperson Abeer Etefa told the Associated Press.

It was not immediately clear how many kitchens would still be operating in Gaza if those shut down. But Etefa said the WFP-backed kitchens are the major ones in Gaza.

Israel cut off entry of all food, fuel, medicine and other supplies to Gaza on March 2 and then resumed its bombardment and ground offensives two weeks later, shattering a two-month ceasefire with Hamas. It says the moves aim to pressure Hamas to release hostages it still holds. Rights groups have called the blockade a “starvation tactic” and a potential war crime.

Israel has said Gaza has enough supplies after a surge of aid entered during the ceasefire and accuses Hamas of diverting aid for its purposes. Humanitarian workers deny there is significant diversion, saying the UN strictly monitors distribution. They say the aid flow during the ceasefire was barely enough to cover the immense needs from throughout the war when only a trickle of supplies got in.

With no new goods entering Gaza, many foods have disappeared from markets, including meat, eggs, fruits, dairy products and many vegetables. Prices for what remains have risen dramatically, becoming unaffordable for much of the population. Most families rely heavily on canned goods.

Malnutrition is already surging. The UN said it identified 3,700 children suffering from acute malnutrition in March, up 80% from the month before. At the same time, because of diminishing supplies, aid groups were only able to provide nutritional supplements to some 22,000 children in March, down 70% from February. The supplements are a crucial tool for averting malnutrition.

Almost all bakeries shut down weeks ago and the WFP stopped distribution of food basics to families for lack of supplies. With stocks of most ingredients depleted, charity kitchens generally can only serve meals of pasta or rice with little added.

World Central Kitchen -- a US charity that is one of the biggest in Gaza that doesn’t rely on the WFP -- said Thursday that its kitchens had run out of proteins. Instead, they make stews from canned vegetables. Because fuel is scarce, it dismantles wooden shipping pallets to burn in its stoves, it said. It also runs the only bakery still functioning in Gaza, producing 87,000 loaves of pita a day.

The WFP said 116,000 tons of food is ready to be brought into Gaza if Israel opens the borders, enough to feed 1 million people for four months.

Israel has leveled much of Gaza with its air and ground campaign, vowing to destroy Hamas after its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. It has killed over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, whose count does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

In the Oct. 7 attack, gunmen killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251. They still hold 59 hostages after most were released in ceasefire deals.