Chris Bold, development director for Yemen at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), told the Commons international development committee on Tuesday: “We haven’t done an impact assessment.” James Cleverly, minister for the Middle East and North Africa, said the cuts were coming at a time of “terrible” and “heartbreaking” conditions in the country. He told the committee that “the risk of famine is significant”. Yemen was also experiencing a “second wave” of Covid-19, he said. “Infection numbers look as though they are doubling since the beginning of the year.” MPs demanded to know what impact the aid cuts would have on women, disabled people and internally displaced Yemenis in a country the UN has categorized as having the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
