Yemen Monitor/Newsroom:
The Director-General of the Executive Unit for IDP Camps Management in Marib Governorate, Saif Muthanna, said on Friday that the suspension of aid provided by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) negatively affects relief efforts in the governorate, which hosts the largest concentration of displaced persons in eastern Yemen.
Al Jazeera Net quoted Muthanna as saying that the agency was supporting vital projects in Marib before the decision to suspend funding, which was made by the administration of US President Donald Trump.
He pointed out that Trump’s decision to close the agency as part of a plan to reduce federal government support led to the cancellation of many humanitarian projects in Marib, which hosts more than 62% of the total displaced people in Yemen.
The US State Department announced last Wednesday evening a $54 billion reduction in the budgets for development programs and foreign aid, a 92% decrease.
Trump signed a decree on January 20, the date of his return to the White House, ordering the freezing of US foreign aid for 90 days pending a full review.
Regarding the effects of this measure on Yemen, Muthanna stressed that the cessation of these humanitarian projects came without warning or the provision of alternatives, warning that this would severely affect the implementation of relief programs, including food security, health, water, environmental sanitation, epidemic control, and other life-saving projects.
The government official warned of the exacerbation of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, amid increasing challenges facing displaced persons with the decline in international support and the cessation of vital relief projects.
He mentioned that he held a meeting two days ago in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, with the UN envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, to discuss the situation of displaced persons in Marib in light of these developments.
