UN warns millions of Yemenis face hunger

“Displaced families in Yemen face rising hunger due to the cut of food assistance,” the UN refugee agency UNHCR said on Twitter.

It added over half of four million displaced Yemenis “live in areas categorized as an emergency food situation.”

“In January, millions will receive reduced food ration”, the UNHCR announced, citing that the UN relief and aid agencies in Yemen, including the World Food Programme, are running out of funding.

The World Food Programme has also warned that Yemen’s food reserves are rapidly dwindling, more than half of the country’s population are severely hungry.

According to the World Food Programme, the ongoing war and deepening economic crisis has pushed millions of Yemenis into poverty. Due to the deteriorating situation and the epidemic, 20 million people in Yemen are currently in need of various forms of humanitarian assistance or protection.

Saudi Arabia and its allies launched a war against the Arab world’s most impoverished nation in March 2015. The war has been seeking to restore power in Yemen to Riyadh’s favorite officials.

The death toll of the war, now in its seventh year, will reach an estimated 377,000 by the end of 2021, according to a recent report from the UN’s Development Programme.

The fighting has seen some 80 percent of the population, or 24 million people, relying on aid and assistance, including 14.3 million who are in acute need.