US suspends aid to Yemen for one year
USAID has put $12 million in development aid on ice while Congress punts on future funding.
WASHINGTON — Congress and the Barack Obama administration are putting aid to Yemen in a deep freeze amid concerns that the crisis there will drag on for the foreseeable future.
The US Agency for International Development (USAID) informed its partners on the ground late last month that it was putting development aid on "full suspension" for a year, Al-Monitor has learned. Meanwhile, House appropriators took a pass on funding assistance to Yemen in their latest foreign aid spending bill.
The yearlong freeze affects about $12 million in development projects. It follows a 90-day suspension of nonhumanitarian assistance in March, around the time the last US officials departed the country.
"Given the current situation in Yemen, USAID is placing most development programs on a full suspension," spokesman Sam Ostrander told Al-Monitor. "The suspension will allow us to keep programs in place so that we can restart development activities quickly when the situation becomes more permissive."
