WFP Accuses Iran-Backed Houthis of Stealing Food Aid
Ami Rojkes Dombe
| 01/01/2019
Photo: WFP/Abeer Etefa - http://photos.wfp.org/fotoweb/Preview.fwx?archiveType=ImageFolder&archiveId=5000&f=862355C10B452EC952C65137A5155E3EBED476C2A123AAFC97285AE1DA88AD871079F25DAE2900B4A49E0460B18466AE82E45C693551478101FFC9BABB7A6AD630061FC428A029CAFE6A227E6723DE74A94D7804B754E297256191A514898F5914366934C6BB1376BAC4AB3ADB20B8A259213116E790BCA04E0B7E564C4019D41A1927D3614FB9CCF990D297F735791EF957C2031F815F8B6270F620C2A1ED00FC33E21D6A3D03F2C6089BA0552614447B1581CE6B089294627478D1D15F9F9914B782983AD737ACBE2A42B125D6C30965DCA855DABF5984
The war in Yemen has left millions of people at risk of starvation, including hundreds of thousands of severely malnourished children. A recent report by the UN World Food Program (WFP) accuses Iran-backed Houthi rebels of diverting desperately needed food aid from people in areas under the group’s control.
“The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) is demanding an immediate end to the diversion of humanitarian food relief in Yemen after uncovering evidence of the practice in the capital, Sana’a, and other parts of the country controlled by the Ansarullah (Houthi) movement,” the agency said in a statement Monday.
“A WFP survey of registered beneficiaries has revealed that many in the capital have not been receiving the food rations to which they are entitled. In other areas, hungry people have been denied full rations.
“The misappropriation of food relief came to light in a WFP review conducted during recent months. It was prompted by an increasing number of reports of humanitarian food for sale on the open market in the capital. What the checks unearthed was fraud being perpetrated by at least one local partner organization tasked by WFP with handling and distributing its food assistance. The local organization is affiliated with the de facto Ministry of Education in Houthi-controlled Sana’a.”
Photo: WFP/Abeer Etefa - http://photos.wfp.org/fotoweb/Preview.fwx?archiveType=ImageFolder&archiveId=5000&f=862355C10B452EC952C65137A5155E3EBED476C2A123AAFC97285AE1DA88AD871079F25DAE2900B4A49E0460B18466AE82E45C693551478101FFC9BABB7A6AD630061FC428A029CAFE6A227E6723DE74A94D7804B754E297256191A514898F5914366934C6BB1376BAC4AB3ADB20B8A259213116E790BCA04E0B7E564C4019D41A1927D3614FB9CCF990D297F735791EF957C2031F815F8B6270F620C2A1ED00FC33E21D6A3D03F2C6089BA0552614447B1581CE6B089294627478D1D15F9F9914B782983AD737ACBE2A42B125D6C30965DCA855DABF5984
The war in Yemen has left millions of people at risk of starvation, including hundreds of thousands of severely malnourished children. A recent report by the UN World Food Program (WFP) accuses Iran-backed Houthi rebels of diverting desperately needed food aid from people in areas under the group’s control.
“The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) is demanding an immediate end to the diversion of humanitarian food relief in Yemen after uncovering evidence of the practice in the capital, Sana’a, and other parts of the country controlled by the Ansarullah (Houthi) movement,” the agency said in a statement Monday.
“A WFP survey of registered beneficiaries has revealed that many in the capital have not been receiving the food rations to which they are entitled. In other areas, hungry people have been denied full rations.
“The misappropriation of food relief came to light in a WFP review conducted during recent months. It was prompted by an increasing number of reports of humanitarian food for sale on the open market in the capital. What the checks unearthed was fraud being perpetrated by at least one local partner organization tasked by WFP with handling and distributing its food assistance. The local organization is affiliated with the de facto Ministry of Education in Houthi-controlled Sana’a.”
