Statement from WFP Executive Director David Beasley on Hodeida
ROME – As the fighting around Hodeida intensifies my main concern is as ever for the children, women and men of Yemen. Innocent people are suffering amidst some of the most difficult conditions imaginable, and we are with them in calling for an end to the long-running conflict.
Despite the conflict, the port of Hodeida, which is the critical access point for the delivery of life-saving assistance to the people of Yemen, is still operational and WFP staff are still working and distributing food to the Yemeni people.
About 19 million Yemenis - 70 percent of the country’s population – rely on the commercial and humanitarian food imported through Hodeida. It is vital that the port and other civilian infrastructure remain operational.
I urge all parties to the conflict to meet their obligations to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure and take active steps to respect international humanitarian law.
# # #
The United Nations World Food Programme - saving lives in emergencies and changing lives for millions through sustainable development. WFP works in more than 80 countries around the world, feeding people caught in conflict and disasters, and laying the foundations for a better future.
Follow us on Twitter @wfp_media
For more information please contact (email address: firstname.lastname@wfp.org):
Abeer Etefa, WFP/Cairo - Mobile: +201066634352