The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has welcomed a $20 million contribution from the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) to help meet the urgent food needs of the most vulnerable households in Yemen.

With this contribution from Saudi Arabia through KSrelief, WFP will be able to meet critical gaps in the life-saving food assistance programme in three distribution cycles in 2023, averting breaks in operations. WFP will procure wheat flour, the main staple component in the monthly food basket, to assist 525,849 severely food-insecure people for up to three months. A portion of the contribution will be used to enhance the livelihoods and resilience of affected families and communities. 

“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s continued commitment to addressing urgent humanitarian needs has saved lives and protected the livelihoods of the most vulnerable people throughout Yemen,” said Eng. Ahmed Ali Al Baiz, KSrelief’s Assistant Supervisor General of Operations and Programs.

The world faces the worst food crisis in recent history. Conflict, climate shocks, and the potential for a global recession threaten millions of people in Yemen.  Amid increased food insecurity, life gets harder every day for vulnerable families in Yemen and the prospects for the country's recovery diminish.

“Support from KSrelief has helped keep famine at bay,” says Richard Ragan, WFP Yemen Representative and Country Director. “You see the desperation to get food on people’s faces, and this contribution comes at a critical time for the neediest families.”

This latest contribution brings the total contributions from The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to WFP’s response in Yemen since 2015 to more than $1.86 billion, including US$380 million in 2019 which helped WFP scale-up operations to reach 13 million people - pulling Yemen back from the brink of famine.

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The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

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For more information please contact (email address: firstname.lastname@wfp.org):

Abeer Etefa, WFP/Cairo, Mob. +2 010666 34352

Zeina Habib,, WFP Dubai +971 52 4724971