Saudi Gazette report

BRINDISI, Italy — The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) signed on Thursday a joint cooperation program with the World Food Program (WFP) worth $60 million to meet the immediate food needs of people in Yemen in line with the Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan 2021 and the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) to prevent a famine in the war-hit country.

The cooperation program was signed by Supervisor General of KSrelief Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, who is also an adviser at the Royal Court, and the WFP Executive Director David Beasley on the sidelines of the G20 ministerial meeting in Brindisi, Italy.

The program, which will continue for six months, aims to secure 68,545 tons of food for more than 4,900,000 people suffering from acute food insecurity in 15 Yemeni governorates, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

In a statement, KSrelief’s chief reiterated that the humanitarian needs of the Yemeni people constitute a priority for Saudi Arabia, adding that the Kingdom has always supported brotherly countries in different crises. He noted that Saudi Arabia’s support included all vital areas that would alleviate the current humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

Al-Rabeeah said that this program will contribute to providing food security to the largest possible number of needy people in different Yemeni governorates, adding that signing the program comes as an extension of humanitarian projects and programs being provided by Saudi Arabia, through KSrelief, for Yemen, whereas the number of projects reached 597, at a total cost of more than $3.771 billion.

KSrelief has implemented 99 humanitarian projects in 24 countries through the WFP, at a total cost of more than $1.33 billion. Additionally, KSrelief, through the WFP, implemented 22 projects in Yemen, at a cost of more than $961 million, he added.

Welcoming Ksrelief's $60 million contributions, the WFP chief Beasley said: “We are currently witnessing an alarming deterioration of the food security situation in Yemen that goes beyond any levels seen before, with 5 million people just a step away from famine.”

“We are grateful to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for this urgently needed contribution to WFP’s life-saving operation, without which our large-scale and complex humanitarian response in the country cannot be sustained” he added.