Corruption of International Aid Organizations, in Yemen, Worsen Humanitarian Situation

Yamanyoon

The Yemeni People hear a lot about the flow of aid into Yemen and a large number of International Organizations providing all kind of aid to those in need. The numbers, in the media, keep growing and more organizations are registered to operate in Yemen. The reality, however, is different and the number of people falling under the category of risk of famine has increased, according to multiple reports by different organizations and media reports. The problem, to some extent, can be the cause of two major players, the first is the US-Saudi aggression and its blockade on the country. The second is the lack of effective aid projects to help the areas in need. Many aid organizations have shown corrupted behavior and practices.

United Nations agencies have warned that food insecurity in Yemen, due to the US-Saudi aggression and its four-year blockade, has affected some 20 million people. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Food Program (WFP), UNICEF and other organizations said in a joint report, on December 8th, that 15.9 million Yemenis are currently starving, calling for “an urgent humanitarian assistance framework” to save millions of Yemenis. “A large proportion of Yemenis, even in “more stable” areas, have no ability to have basic food commodities because “food prices jumped by 150 percent compared to pre-crisis levels,” organizations said. “WFP needs a massive increase in aid and sustainable access to all areas of Yemen to save millions of Yemenis,” said WFP Executive Director David Paisley, warning that if this does not happen, “we will lose a whole generation of children because of hunger.”

The National Salvation Government, on Sunday, February 5th, revealed evidence of international humanitarian organizations operating in Yemen that are engaging in fraud and exploitation of millions of dollars under the guise of aid to the Yemeni people. In a new report published by Yemen Press Agency, the government hinted at some international organizations offering tons of expired or close-to-expiration drugs to the Yemeni people, as it did the last year 2018, as well as revealing other issues that come in the context of irresponsible action by some international organizations. “An international organization–not named–has received financial assistance of about $5 million to aid Yemen, but has taken $3.1 million for itself under operational expenses, and has provided the Yemeni people with less than $2 million in aid,” the Director of the Presidency Office of Yemen, Ahmed Hamid, said. He indicated that another organization received international assistance on behalf of the Yemeni people for a total sum of 750,000 euros, but provided only 50,000 euros to the Yemenis, spending a total of 700,000 euros under the name of operational expenses.

The head National Authority for the Management and Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster pledged that “this situation will be remedied and rectified in the current year 2019, to be a year for correcting mistakes.” “Any material or assistance provided by the United Nations and its humanitarian organizations should be examined in all sectors, including agriculture, where an international organization has provided salt pretending to be agricultural fertilizers or food products,” Hamid said. He added that any project will be studied in coordination with the concerned authorities in the relevant ministries and will be reviewed and supervised, and followed up by the implementation of proper projects in order to ensure fading of any errors that may occur.

Hamid called on the international organizations working in Yemen to “work with honored principles and credibility in order to meet the actual need of the afflicted Yemeni people, not the special vision of organizations that do not serve the reality of humanitarian action.” He further expressed his hope that the “international organizations will provide assistance to the Yemeni people in full, and not drain it in the name of operational expenses, thus depriving the Yemeni people.”

Undersecretary of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, Yahya Hussein Qarwash, said a day earlier that Yemen has developed a plan for the year 2019, and that the international community and humanitarian organizations have to respond to it during the current year.  “We can not accept any humanitarian plan that was sat up outside Yemen and does not meet the needs of 30 million Yemenis for food and medicine due to unjust aggression and siege for the fourth year in a row,” he told the Yemeni Press Agency. He pointed out that there are more than 54 international organizations and more than 80 local organizations and institutions working in the humanitarian field. If these organizations do not meet the priority needs of Yemenis during 2019, they will be treated as profit organizations. The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor pointed that the international organizations acquire 60 to 70% of the funding of the project in its headquarters while delivering aid and humanitarian assistance to the Yemeni citizen not more than 30% of the cost of the project.

In July 2018, The World Food Program (WFP) warned that 18 million people in Yemen are food insecure, of whom more than 8 million are “food insecure” and depend entirely on foreign aid. The rate of malnutrition among children in Yemen is among the highest in the world, and the current hunger rate is unprecedented and causes severe suffering to millions of people.

“The humanitarian situation in Yemen is very fragile,” The UN program said, pointing out that any disruption in vital supplies such as food, fuel and medicine could cause millions of people to die of starvation in Yemen. More than 3 million pregnant, lactating women and children under the age of five need food support to prevent or treat malnutrition, and more than half of Yemeni households buy food in debt, up nearly 50 percent from pre-crisis levels.

Recent reports according to UN Humanitarian Coordinator, Mark Lowcock said that there are now more than 24 million people in need of humanitarian assistance – 80 % of the population, including 10 million people, is a step from starvation, and more than 3.3 million people – 600,000 of them – have been displaced in the past 12 months.” “The imposition of preconditions on the Medical Air Bridge in Sana’a contributes to the continuation of the humanitarian crisis and the lack of aid arrival to the Yemenis,” he added.

Source:Almasirah English