The United Kingdom is being criticized cutting the amount aid it gives to Yemen. The UK's foreign office said it would cut the amount humanitarian aid to Yemen by more than 50 per cent. However, just three weeks ago, foreign office minister James Cleverly said Yemen would remain a "UK priority country". He said his government would use all its efforts to bring peace. Yemen is one the world's least developed countries. The United Nations reports that Yemen is the country the most people in need humanitarian aid. There are about 24 million people in need help. This is about 85 per cent its population. It ranks second worst the Global Hunger Index.
There could be a catastrophic humanitarian crisis Yemen. Millions of people are struggling to find food to eat. There is now the threat a famine that would deepen the crisis. The civil war has left hospitals ruins. Jan Egeland the Norwegian Refugee Council said: "We are seeing a relentless countdown to a possible famine that the world hasn't seen since Ethiopia the 1980s." The United Nations said: "More than 50,000 Yemenis are already starving to death and 16 million will go hungry this year." It added that the UK cut aid $280 million last year to $120 million this year would be "tragic". The UK's Guardian newspaper said: "Yemenis aren't starving, they are being starved."