WFP speeding up food delivery in Yemen through new voucher scheme

The World Food Programme (WFP) began distributing food vouchers to assist close to 120,000 people living in Sana'a city, Yemen, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters here Wednesday.

"The voucher scheme will speed up the delivery of food assistance in Yemen, enabling WFP to reach vulnerable people faster through a local retailer who will supply food commodities to families in exchange for WFP vouchers," Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here.

"This new form of assistance will also help revive commercial activities and markets in Yemen. Each voucher provides a family of six with a one-month supply of food," he said.

Each voucher provides a family of six with a one-month supply of wheat grain, pulses, vegetable oil, salt and sugar as well as Wheat Soya Blend (WSB) -- a protein-rich blended food provided by WFP through the local supplier.

"Food vouchers ensure the rapid and regular delivery of assistance across Yemen to families who rely almost entirely on external assistance to secure their essential food needs. WFP Vouchers also boost the local economy as we work with local suppliers to provide food to vulnerable people," said Purnima Kashyap, WFP representative and country director in Yemen. "We thank the UK (United Kingdom) government for funding this new programme."

The UK government has contributed 5.9 million pounds, about 8.6 million U.S. dollars, through UKaid, to fund the programme.

Oum Ahmed told WFP she escaped Sa'ada eight months ago after her neighbourhood was destroyed by airstrikes and moved to Sana'a city with her family.

"I clean people's homes to be able to feed my children," she said. "I was very happy when they gave me this voucher with my name on it."

WFP will gradually replace conventional food distributions with voucher assistance in areas where markets are functioning. By the end of 2016, WFP aims to reach one million with food vouchers.

WFP is assisting up to 3 million people across Yemen every month, including both internally displaced people and vulnerable families in host communities.

The conflict has worsened Yemen's already poor food security situation, adding more than 3 million people to the ranks of the hungry in less than a year.

According to the UN's 2016 Humanitarian Needs Overview, 7.6 million people in Yemen are severely food insecure -- a level of need that requires urgent, external food assistance. Enditem