WFP increases food aid to Yemen‏

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Monday that it has increased food assistance in Yemen after new funds were confirmed.

In April and May, WFP began increasing assistance to nearly 6 million people in nine governorates with the highest rates of "emergency" food insecurity in Yemen with the instillation of new funds, the aid agency said in a statement.

In 2021, donors have so far stepped up with nearly 947 million U.S. dollars for WFP's famine prevention effort in Yemen, it added.

However, the WFP noted that it still needs at least 1.9 billion dollars in 2021 to prevent famine in Yemen.

WFP Country Director for Yemen Laurent Bukera warned that the ailing economy in Yemen, compounded by the food insecurity, has left the country vulnerable to worsening hunger and famine.

About half of the Yemeni children under five are projected to face acute malnutrition in 2021, with nearly 400,000 expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition and could die if they do not receive urgent treatment, according to the WFP.

A recent UN-brokered negotiation between Yemen's warring sides and other relevant parties has failed to produce any agreement of cease-fire