Germany grants €10m to Yemen's food insecure families

Germany agreed on Tuesday to contribute €10 million to the World Food Programme (WFP) to help severely food insecure households in Yemen with food distributions and cash disbursements. The contribution granted by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) will be channeled through German development bank (KfW). "This generous contribution will enable us to ensure that we can reach all the vulnerable people we are targeting under our current emergency safety net," said WFP Yemen Representative and Country Director Bishow Parajuli. "It also gives us the option to disburse cash in areas with developed markets, to give people a greater choice over the food they buy." The German contribution will support monthly food distributions or cash disbursements to severely food-insecure Yemeni households under WFP's operations, which are targeting 2.8 million people by the end of June 2014. As the second largest donor to WFP in Yemen, Germany has provided funds which have enabled WFP to reach some 5 million people in 2013, according to WFP press release. WFP will continue to assist the food insecure and needy people of Yemen in a new operation starting in July. At a cost of some US$500 million over its two-year duration, WFP's new operation aims to reach 6 million people with a range of assistance including helping to develop agriculture, rural infrastructure, rainwater conservation and rural employment, as well as providing treatment and prevention of acute and chronic malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies, and meals and take-home rations for children regularly attending school. It will also maintain relief assistance to the poorest and most vulnerable, the statement read. "This new operation reflects a gradual shift from providing relief to building recovery and resilience, helping people overcome barriers to food and nutrition security and manage the consequences of conflict and natural stresses," said Parajuli. "We are hoping for continued generous support from Germany's BMZ and other donors."