Washington
05 June 2012
The United States is providing an additional $6.5 million in humanitarian assistance to help those most in need in Yemen, the U.S. Agency for International Development announced June 4.
This new assistance brings U.S. government humanitarian assistance to Yemen to nearly $80 million in fiscal year 2012, USAID said.
“Almost half the population in Yemen is not getting enough to eat, and nearly 1 million children under the age of 5 are acutely malnourished, which increases their vulnerability to a range of illness and preventable disease,” said Nancy Lindborg, USAID’s assistant administrator for democracy, conflict and humanitarian assistance.
“This additional assistance from the U.S. will provide clean water, proper sanitation, and hygiene education and materials to help prevent the spread of illness,” Lindborg said.
The assistance also includes emergency food aid, basic health services, and medical and other relief supplies to help more than 550,000 internally displaced persons, more than 215,000 refugees and migrants from the Horn of Africa, conflict victims and other vulnerable populations.
Lindborg visited Sanaa June 1–3, participating in a joint delegation of international donors and organizations, which included the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Gulf Cooperation Council, the European Union, the League of Arab States and the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The joint delegation trip put into action the historic cooperation agreement on humanitarian issues and disaster response signed by the OIC and USAID on March 15 at the White House.
“Especially now,” Lindborg said, “at this pivotal time for the region, the international community must come together to help the people of Yemen build a foundation for longer-term development towards a unified, stable, democratic and prosperous country worthy of their struggle.”
While in Yemen, Lindborg visited a therapeutic feeding center for malnourished children at a hospital in Sanaa and met with Yemeni government officials, including President Abdo Rabo Mansour Hadi, several ministers and the National Dialogue Liaison Committee, as well as groups of humanitarian organization representatives and civil society activists.
In all of her meetings, Lindborg stated the U.S. commitment to supporting Yemen’s transition through humanitarian aid as well as development and economic support. The United States provided $115 million in civilian assistance to Yemen in FY 2011 and plans to provide at least $118 million in FY 2012.