Yemen’s president Abdo Rabo Mansour Hadi has recently ordered the restructuring of military units and security institutions by issuing decrees transferring the command of former security units to a newly formed force called the “Presidential Protective Forces under his authority.”
Reports say the move aims to stabilise the security situation of the country where former leader Ali Abdullah Saleh’s legacy still looms large.
At DC Today, Director Patrick Ventrell says the United States welcomes and fully supports President Abdo Rabo Mansour Hadi’s decrees this week.
Mr. Ventrell notes that Yemen has experienced a significant transformation over the past year and these decrees are a tangible illustration of the positive steps that Yemen is taking along their path to democracy.
According to Mr. Ventrell, the US government looks forward to the swift implementation of these decrees, which are consistent with the Gulf Cooperation Council Initiative and Implementing Mechanism as well as UN Security Council Resolution 2051.
He adds that reorganizing Yemen’s military and security institutions and establishing world class standards of professionalism and civilian control benefits both Yemen and the region.
“We will continue to work with President Hadi and the Yemeni people as they work to realize their aspirations for a stable, secure, and prosperous country.” -Mr. Ventrell
Earlier this year, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)reported that Yemen is in the midst of an “increasingly complex, full-fledged humanitarian crisis.
It is estimated that the recent political turmoil in Yemen last year, part of a wave of protests across the Middle East and North Africa calling for social, economic and democratic reforms, has led to more than 82 deaths and hundreds of injuries.
To address the humanitarian needs of the Yemenis, the World Food Programm set to scale up its assistance in response to the growing needs in Yemen.
WFP is preparing to feed 3.5 million vulnerable people in Yemen in 2012. This includes people who have been pushed into hunger in the wake of sharp hikes in food prices and displacement in the northern and the southern regions of the country.
The agency is especially prioritizing 1.8 million severely food insecure Yemenis living in the poorest 14 governorates. The estimated total cost of the food assistance is $207 million.
WFP’s efforts in the country have received a boost with a $31 million contribution from Germany, during what the agency’s representative there, Lubna Alaman, described as an “increasingly dire” situation.
The contribution is the largest donation that WFP has ever received from Germany for Yemen in one year and one of the highest ever worldwide.
The German contribution will enable WFP to distribute more than 20,000 metric tons of food commodities such as fortified wheat flour, oil, and specialized nutritional products for severely malnourished children. The contribution will also support WFP’s Food for Girls’ Education programme which provides take-home food rations as an incentive for families to keep girls in schools.
In addition, with ten million Yemenis facing food insecurity, the United States of America has expressed commitment on providing lifesaving humanitarian assistance to those in need in Yemen.
In the face of this worsening situation, the United States is focused on providing lifesaving humanitarian assistance to those in need in Yemen.
The United States is addressing the needs in a way that helps build resilience and stability.
To date in this fiscal year, the United States is providing over 73 million in humanitarian assistance to those affected by the conflict, she reported.
The assistance includes over 47 million in emergency food assistance, she added.
The assistance that the US government is providing includes things like 37,000 metric tons of wheat and other food items where over $11 million for food vouchers will allow people to purchase food in local markets.
The uprising in Yemen is part of a wider pro-democracy movement across the region, dubbed the “Arab Spring,” that began at the start of this year and has already toppled long-standing regimes in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.
