Qatar gives $2.9 mn to feed needy Yemenis: WFP

Rome, Sep 14 (IANS/AKI) Qatar has donated $2.9 million to help the United Nations World Food Programme provide vital food assistance to over 160,000 vulnerable people in war-torn Yemen over a two-month period, WFP said in a statement.

The Qatari funds enabled the WFP to distribute food vouchers to families in four governorates in western and southern Yemen - Al Jawf, Lahj, Dhamar and Taiz, said the statement.

"WFP is working tirelessly in Yemen to provide millions with vital food assistance," said WFP Representative and Country Director in Yemen, Laurent Bukera.

The international community also needs to support Yemen's local economy to help the impoverished country recover from the devastation wrought by the civil war that began in 2015, Bukera said.

"The continued support of donors like Qatar is essential to ensure that no child, woman or man goes hungry in Yemen," he said.

WFP is helping feed over 11 million people in Yemen each month, support that has so far helped avert famine in Yemen, the UN agency said.

But, over 20 million Yemenis continue to struggle to get enough to eat each day and humanitarian food aid remains critical, it warned.

Malnutrition rates among women and children remain dangerously high with around 3 million at risk of acute malnutrition, WFP said.

The country's economic collapse and outbreaks of disease have exacerbated the food crisis in Yemen, WFP warned. Besides food assistance, investment in restoring livelihoods and rebuilding infrastructure is also needed to rebuild the country, WFP said.