Aid, peace still not enough to save Yemenis from hunger, WFP says

Boosting aid and even ending the devastating Yemen conflict would not be enough to end hunger in the impoverished country, a World Food Program official say.

“WFP hopes that the warring parties will successfully negotiate an end to this conflict, which is the only way to solve what has become the largest hunger crisis in the world,” WFP spokesman Herve Verhoosel says as rival Yemeni delegations gathered for UN-brokered talks in Sweden.

“Even if we have peace tomorrow, we hope of course that we will have peace tomorrow, then you will still need to work on a way to have that economy recover,” Verhoosel tells AFP.

“Humanitarian support is not enough. You need the humanitarian support but you also need to save the local economy.”

Yemen is home to what the UN calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, a crisis triggered by a frail economy, massive poverty, war, blockade, and disease.

The Sweden talks mark the first time in two years warring parties have sat down together in a nearly four-year war which has pushed the impoverished country to the brink of mass starvation.

— AFP