Senate Needs to Back Yemen Resolution with Food Aid

The Senate passed a resolution last year calling for support of Yemen, a country afflicted by Al Qaeda, internal conflict, hunger and poverty. The resolution states that the Senate "supports the innocent civilians in Yemen, especially displaced persons, who have suffered from instability, terrorist operations, and chronic underdevelopment in Yemen."

The Senate should back this resolution with food, the foundation of all hopes for peace and stability in Yemen. The Obama administration recently admitted that humanitarian aid for Yemen was "woefully underfunded." As far as foreign policy initiatives go, it is relatively inexpensive to establish funding for food aid programs in Yemen.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP), with a 51 million dollar budget shortfall, is struggling to provide aid to Yemenis displaced by the conflict in the northern part of the country. WFP's Food for Education programs have only had one distribution since June, 2009 because of this low funding. These vital programs for children would be a major tool for overcoming hunger and poverty throughout Yemen.

A food ambassador should be appointed immediately in order to build international cooperation to restore funding for WFP programs in Yemen and across the globe.

The Senate resolution "recognizes the serious threat instability and terrorism in Yemen pose to the security of the United States, the region, and the population in Yemen." This country clearly is high on the U.S. list of national security priorities.

This being said, it is time to turn words into action. It all starts with food.

See alsoAl Qaeda, war, hunger and poverty

Visit the World Food Programme Yemen page

You can donate to the World Food Programme (USA site) here.