Trump administration announces $225 million in emergency Yemen aid
The Donald Trump administration announced $225 in emergency food aid for Yemen today, but the United States is still refusing to cooperate with the World Health Organization on vital programs.
The Donald Trump administration announced today that the United States will provide an additional $225 million in emergency food aid for Yemen, significantly more than the $73 million in Yemeni assistance that the United States cut in March.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at a press briefing that the assistance will go to a UN emergency food program in southern Yemen and to a reduced operation in northern Yemen that the UN World Food Program "was forced to scale down earlier this month because of the Iran-backed Houthis.”
The Trump administration previously announced some $1.7 million in aid to help Yemenis cope with the COVID-19 crisis, but that accounts for less than 1% of the $1.3 billion that the Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation estimates will be needed to help the country cope with the coronavirus pandemic.
Lise Grande, the UN humanitarian aid coordinator for Yemen, praised the $225 million in food aid as “a lifeline” as the COVID-19 pandemic spreads “faster and faster.”
