Yemen Monitor/ (AFP)
Relief officials and government authorities in Yemen have warned of the catastrophic repercussions of the decision to suspend foreign aid provided through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
According to them, this move significantly threatens the lives of millions of Yemenis and further exacerbates the humanitarian crisis in a country classified as one of the poorest Arab nations.
Yemenis and relief organizations fear a severe shortage of goods and food supplies, while millions of residents suffer from malnutrition, rising food prices, and declining services, due to the 10-year conflict that has caused one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, according to the United Nations.
Since 2015, the World Food Programme has been working to provide aid to Yemen to prevent famine, relying on aid received by the UN program from institutions and countries, foremost of which is the US.
The U.S. State Department said in February 2023 that the volume of U.S. aid to Yemen since the start of the conflict there through USAID and the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration has exceeded $5.4 billion.
However, amid deteriorating living conditions, the United Nations appealed to donors last month to provide $2.47 billion to support the humanitarian response plan in Yemen during 2025, noting that about 20 million people there need humanitarian support, while millions suffer from hunger and face the risk of life-threatening diseases.
The signing by U.S. President Donald Trump on January 20 of an executive order to suspend foreign aid funding for 90 days pending a review of funding policies has disrupted the calculations of many charitable and relief organizations operating in Yemen.
The suspension of U.S. aid comes at a time when Trump’s decision to re-designate the Yemeni Houthi movement as a “foreign terrorist organization” takes effect, further complicating matters in a country already suffering from deteriorating economic and living conditions, currency collapse, lack of services, and a war that has brought one of the poorest Arab countries to the brink of famine.
Rising Unemployment Rates
Officials in the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor in Aden said that the repercussions of the U.S. decision have begun to appear gradually, as the ministry has received dozens of letters from local relief and development organizations in recent days indicating the cessation or reduction of their activities and the dismissal of hundreds of their employees.
The officials added that the majority of these organizations operate in areas controlled by the Houthi group in the north, central, and western parts of the country, which have high population densities. They declined to give further details, but stressed that the cessation of organizations’ activities and the dismissal of hundreds of employees will contribute to rising unemployment rates in the country, which are already high.
Abdullah Sami feels regret and sadness at the decision to dismiss him from a local relief organization that receives funding from USAID, and like many of his colleagues, they have lost their jobs and become without a source of income, as the Yemeni government has stopped employing young people since the outbreak of war years ago.
Sami (32 years), who lives in Aden, said that he never imagined that the US would stop its funding in Yemen, and lose because of this decision a good income that he used to get from his work in information technology and help him support his small family consisting of a wife and two children.
Local and UN reports indicate that the stifling economic crisis in Yemen has pushed the unemployment rate among young people to about 60%, compared to 14% before the war, and raised the inflation rate to about 45% and poverty to about 78%.
The head of a local relief organization in the capital, Sana’a, warned that the cessation of USAID aid will not only affect the beneficiaries of relief programs but will also harm workers in the sector, who number in the hundreds.
“Deterioration of Conditions and Expansion of Hunger“
In the same context, economic researcher at the Yemen and Gulf Studies Center, Wafiq Saleh, considered that the cessation of U.S. humanitarian aid programs in Yemen portends further deterioration of conditions and expansion of hunger in the country.
He said that the risks of this move to the humanitarian situation are compounded because it coincides with deteriorating humanitarian conditions, a reduction in other international aid programs provided to Yemen, as well as a deterioration in the macroeconomy, an exacerbation of the state’s fiscal deficit, and a dispersion of local resources.
However, some residents of Sana’a, which is controlled by the Houthis, do not pay much attention to the matter and believe that the decline or cessation of USAID’s activity “will not have a significant impact in light of the difficult humanitarian situation in the country.” Mahdi Muhammad Al-Bahri, a resident, said, “USAID’s presence is almost non-existent at the level of its direct relationship with people, as it works with human rights civil society organizations, which are mostly not humanitarian organizations.”
Zaid Al-Hassan, who also resides in Sanaa, agrees with him, saying: “The new U.S. decision does not concern us because our situation is very difficult and we have not received any relief from USAID or any other relief organizations during the past period.”
The United Nations says that more than 80 percent of Yemen’s population needs assistance, and millions are on the brink of widespread famine.
For its part, the WFP says it provided assistance to 15.3 million people, or 47% of Yemen’s population of 35.6 million, in 2023.
