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WFP Chief Urges Gulf Nations to ’Step Up’ In Yemen

WFP Chief Urges Gulf Nations to ’Step Up’ In Yemen
folder_openYemen access_time6 years ago
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Gulf countries must shell out more money to tackle widespread hunger in Yemen, which has been devastated by two years of war, the head of the World Food Program [WFP], David Beasley, said on Friday.

WFP Chief Urges Gulf Nations to ’Step Up’ In Yemen

Beasley's call for help is the latest salvo from the United Nations hunger agency, which wants more action from nations that neighbor Yemen such as Saudi Arabia, which has been leading a military campaign there.

"What we're challenging are the Gulf states to step up and do more, particularly when these conflicts are predominantly in your region," Beasley said during a side event of the UN annual General Assembly, a week-long meeting in New York of world leaders and diplomats.

"These are your cousins, these are your brothers, these are your sisters ... so you need to step up more."

Two weeks ago, Beasley argued that Saudi Arabia alone should fund steps to cut disease and hunger in Yemen, comments that were unusually forthright for a UN official.

A quarter of the population of Yemen is on the brink of famine, according to UN data.

More than 12,000 people have been killed since the onset of the Saudi campaign against Yemen more than two and a half years ago. Much of the Arabian Peninsula country's infrastructure, including hospitals, schools and factories, has been reduced to rubble due the war.

The Saudi war has also triggered a deadly cholera epidemic across Yemen.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

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