SANA’A, Oct. 9 — The Planning and International Cooperation Minister, Mohammed Al-Saadi; the British International Development Minister, Alan Duncan; and UNICEF’s representative in Yemen, Geert Cappelaere, held a press conference about the food crisis in Yemen on Tuesday at the British Embassy.

Duncan announced the U.K.’s pledge to give 35 million pounds, which is about $56 million, over the next three years in aid dedicated to combating food-related shortages for the estimated 1.65 million women and children who suffer from malnutrition across Yemen. This announcement is part of the 196 million pounds, a little more than $300 million, that the U.K. promised Yemen in development support at a donor conference in Saudi Arabia in early September.

The British representative said the U.K. will work with UNICEF and the Yemeni government to plan long term solutions to the current food crisis and that it will address the root causes of malnutrition rather than simply trying to tackle the symptoms.

“I hope if this happens successfully, it will secure sustainable results which will encourage other donors to follow a lead situation in a country that shows the work can be done,” Duncan said.

Yemen has one of the highest malnutrition rates in the world, and the situation has become worse due to security and political conflicts across the country.   Statistics show that one-third of children in the country are suffering from life-threatening acute malnutrition.   

Al-Saadi expressed his gratitude for the funding on his country’s behalf and proclaimed the government’s commitment to prioritizing the issue. He said he hopes this will draw other international initiatives dedicated to combating famine in under resourced areas.  

“We will start to meet the development challenge by investing our resources and benefiting from our successful qualifications and the experience of international organizations,” he said.