The US has increased its aid to Yemen to $337 million so far this year, the biggest aid sum in the bilateral relations between the two countries, the Yemeni Saba agency reported on Wednesday, quoting a statement by a spokesman of Yemen’s Washington embassy.
Muhammad Al-Basha, the spokesperson for the Yemeni embassy in the US, was quoted as saying the US aid was announced as follows: $110 million to help Yemen cope with the humanitarian crisis, $68 million in aid to the political transition and improving the economic and development sectors, $112 million in aid to the security forces and $47 million in aid to fight terrorism in Yemen.
In June, the US announced additional humanitarian aid to Yemen bringing its total humanitarian aid by the time to $80 million.
Yemen is experiencing an unprecedented a humanitarian crisis affecting half of the country’s population.
According to official and donor reports, about 47% of the Yemeni people live under the poverty line and need urgent aid.
Donors and other supporters have delivered aid in billions of US dollars this year at a time when the Yemen is continuing the implementation of a GCC-brokered power transfer deal backed by the West.
In addition to poverty, Yemen is trying to meet the needs of about half a million internally displaced persons due to conflicts and more than one million African refugees.
The latest developments including the 2011 uprising deepened the woes of Yemen, the poorest country in the region facing a range of crises including the fight of increasing militancy amid decline of national resources.