The UN World Food Program (WFP) said food insecurity remains at severely high levels in Yemen despite the decrease in the number of households unable to meet their minimum food needs.
In a report released earlier this month, it added that “52 percent of the surveyed households in the south and 44 percent of those in the north reported inadequate food consumption during March 2023.”
In its Yemen Food Security Update, WFP reported that during the first quarter of 2023, the overall volume of food imports through the southern ports of Aden and Mukalla – both held by the legitimate government - increased by 33 percent compared to same period last year. Imports decreased by 30 percent through the Red Sea ports.
Accordingly, the net volume of food imported through the Yemeni seaports was 17 percent lower than the year before. However, essential food items were available in local markets during the same period in 2023, the report showed.
During the first quarter of 2023, the total volume of imported fuel through the northern ports of Hodeidah and As Salif – both held by the Iran-backed Houthi militias - was nearly five times the level of imports in the same period last year, it noted.
Meanwhile, the Yemen Policy Center criticized external actors for not effectively spending aid to the humanitarian sector in Yemen.
“To date, external actors have determined the way in which billions are spent by the humanitarian sector – and not always effectively,” the Center said.
It stressed that due to Yemen’s ongoing war, more than 21.6 million people - almost three-quarters of the population - need life-saving humanitarian assistance and protection services.
Moreover, 3.1 million people are internally displaced, 17.3 million need food and agricultural assistance, 20.3 million need critical health services, and 15.3 million need clean water and support for basic sanitation.
However, the Center said the organizations providing humanitarian aid are aware that they do not always meet the people’s needs.
“In fact, a 2019 UNICEF perception survey showed that nearly half the respondents (49.9 percent) indicated that the aid did not meet their priority needs; only 2 percent said they were ‘mostly satisfied’ with what they received,” it noted.
The Center then showed that there is a clear disconnect between what Yemenis need and what is being delivered; fundamentally, because the current humanitarian response framework does not allow aid recipient communities to shape planning and delivery.
The Center said Yemen joined the global shift towards Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) with the Yemen Humanitarian Response Plans of 2017 and 2018, which included AAP as a strategic objective.
However, it said despite some AAP improvements, there is still a disconnect between theory and practice, with commitment to the principles not translating into more accountability.
“A major obstacle is a lack of coherence when it comes to AAP practices between the different actors in Yemen,” the Center said, adding that there is neither a consistent understanding of what AAP means nor a unified framework, and this impacts the affected population.
The Center called on the aid sector to start by admitting that lack of accountability is a problem that is affecting lives and that it should address this as a priority.
“We need a system that listens to people and implements commitments to ensure that people are really at the center of aid delivery,” it urged.
Furthermore, the Center called on donors, INGOs, local NGOs, and local authorities and the local community, to work together.
It stressed that local communities must be provided with accessible and timely information and allowed to play a core role in decision making, with feedback being responded to.
