News – Yemen: the Norwegian Refugee Council,on Friday, confirmed that more than 13 million Yemenis are at risk of real famine.

"The latest shocking hunger figures from Yemen tell us in the starkest terms that without urgent action, 13.5 million Yemenis are currently at risk of starvation and close to 17,000 people are already living in famine conditions. These figures are expected to multiply in the next six months," NRC Director in Yemen, Mohammed Abdi, siad.

Six years of war have turned food into a weapon against the Yemeni people in the form of a crippling economic blockade, restrictions on imports, and relentless attacks on farms and fishermen. Full and food are out of reach for millions and many can no longer afford them. All this is happening when aid funding has been dramatically slashed in Yemen and the economy is spiralling. "At NRC we have had to halve our food aid to 360,000 people because of diminishing support. Adults tell us that they are skipping meals regularly so that their children do not go to bed hungry," Mr. Abdi explained.

He stressed that time is still available to prevent another historic famine, calling for urgent action to avoid hundreds of thousands of people from dying. At the same time he indicated the need to "end the war and all the reasons pushing a lot of people into starvation."

It is noteworthy that the national team in charge of dealing with the group of international and regional experts said in its first report issued yesterday that Yemen is experiencing deteriorating economic and humanitarian conditions due to the war and blockade, stressing that the population rate below the poverty line rose to 85% in the year 2019, while the unemployment rate exceeded 65% due to war and blockade.