This archive report was first published on 10 August 2019.
The World Food Program has announced that it will resume food aid to 850,000 Yemeni civilians in Sanaa, who have been without rations for two months, following a deal with Houthi authorities.
According to the WFP, the agency suspended its operations in Yemen on June 20 after Houthi authorities refused to introduce a biometric registration system to ensure that those in need of food would receive it.
However, after weeks of negotiations, the WFP said it had worked out technical details of an agreement that provides assurances that the right food goes to the right people at the right time.
WFP spokesman Herve Verhoosel stated that his agency had written guarantees from the Houthis that hundreds of thousands of hungry people in Sanaa would receive the lifesaving food they desperately need.
"We have every reason to believe that the Houthis are there for the good of their people and will, of course, help us to implement that agreement," Verhoosel said. "Obviously, we will review the situation if we see that it is not the case. The people in Sanaa that we are talking about will start receiving food even before we start the registration process."
Under the agreement, biometric registration will begin next week for the 9 million WFP beneficiaries in areas of Yemen controlled by the Sanaa-based Houthi authorities.
Verhoosel explained that the Yemeni civilians will receive digital smart cards that will verify their identity, ensuring that vulnerable families will receive the food they need by means of rations, vouchers, or cash.
The United Nations says the Yemen conflict has produced the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with 80 percent of Yemen's population, or more than 24 million people, in need of assistance.
WFP has been scaling up its operations for three months, with the objective of providing food aid to 12 million people every month. To reach this goal, it urgently needs ksh. 74.6 billion to fund operations through 2019.
