Administrator Samantha Power Discusses the Humanitarian Response in Yemen and the Importance of De-escalation

MODERATOR: Welcome, everyone. It's an absolute pleasure to be hosting this event today. I'll start by introducing myself. I'm Nawal Al-Maghafi and I'm one of the BBC's special correspondents. I've been reporting on conflict zones around the world, but for the last decade, I’ve focused a lot on Yemen. And it's because it's a place that's very close to my heart because I'm originally Yemeni. And also I've been reporting on the conflict as it's unraveled in the last six years. And it's been really heartbreaking to watch the impact that's had on ordinary people's lives.

Two months ago, I became a mother myself as well as a journalist. And like many new mums, I've spent many sleepless nights feeding my daughter and thinking about her future and who she'll become one day. But I've also spent those nights thinking of all the mothers I've met in my travels in Yemen that are too afraid to dream for their children because they don't know if they're going to make it another day.

I've thought of Umumema, a mom that I met in Hudaydahin 2017. Back then I asked her, I asked her what she wanted her daughter to be when she was older. Her daughter is one of millions of children in Yemen that are starving. And now I realize that wasn't a very, you know, that was a stupid question. She answered me and said, "Do you really think she's going to survive?" You know, over these sleepless nights I've thought of mothers that are so malnourished themselves that they can't breastfeed their children and they have no means to feed their children any other way.

But also in my travels, I've witnessed and reported on the impact life-saving aid has had and how it saved people and entire communities in Yemen; how it's saving Yemen's next generation and giving Yemen hope that one day they'll rebuild what this conflict has destroyed. So before I introduce the lineup of brilliant speakers we have today, I'd really like to encourage all of you to please share this event on all your social media platforms by copying and pasting the link.

So we'll kick off the event by hearing from our speakers and then we'll go on to have a discussion about Yemen's humanitarian crisis. First of all, please welcome USAID's Administrator Samantha Power, the United States Special envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking, and the Executive Director of the UN's World Food Programme, David Beasley. So, first of all, I'll pass over to you, Administrator Samantha Power.

ADMINISTRATOR POWER: Thank you so much, Nawal, for moderating today's discussion and for your steady focus on the conflict in Yemen. I wish we could get more media interest to help sustain the kinds of efforts like this one, to draw funding and support for the people of Yemen. But we really appreciate yours.

Yemen is now in the seventh year of a devastating conflict that has left two-thirds of the country's population in dire need of humanitarian assistance. Today, we are calling on all donors to step up and to scale up humanitarian assistance funding with the urgency necessitated by the crisis itself.

This fiscal year alone, the United States has provided more than $515 million worth of humanitarian assistance of various kinds, allowing our partners to reach those in urgent need with everything from food to clean drinking water to basic services. But it is not enough. We cannot kid ourselves that it is enough. We commend the generous pledges made by other donor countries. But the fact is that much more funding is needed to keep Yemen from the brink. And we call on all parties to allow the unhindered import and distribution of fuel so that hospitals and water treatment can function, so that food prices stop rising and so that aid can continue to reach its intended recipients.

We cannot do this alone, and we urgently call on donors to scale up funding to avert a further deterioration of humanitarian needs. One day the conflict in Yemen will be a memory, and our Special Envoy is doing everything in his power to bring that day sooner rather than later. But until then, we must meet the weariness that so many feel with resolve.

MODERATOR: Thank you so much, Administrator Power. Now we'll hear from the U.S. Special Envoy for Yemen, Tim Lenderking, who's really been at the forefront of trying to find a resolution for this conflict. Please take the floor.

SPECIAL ENVOY LENDERKING: Thank you very much, Nawal. It's a real pleasure to be here with you and also with such outstanding colleagues and humanitarians like Samantha and David Beasley.

And, you know, when President Biden appointed me as Special Envoy to Yemen in February of this year, he charged me with two mandates, to advance a durable resolution of the Yemen conflict and take immediate action to mitigate the humanitarian crisis facing the country. We've made some progress in these efforts, but a lot of hard work remains, I think, just as Samantha laid it out. We've built an unprecedented international consensus on resolving the crisis in a way that we've not seen over the course of the war. And we're witnessing stronger, more united, unified regional efforts to do so.

There's broad support for more inclusive peace efforts that build on the strong demand inside of Yemen for peace and opposition to the costly stalemated offensive in Ma'rib. And the appointment of a new special envoy, U.N. Envoy Hans Grundberg will bring new momentum to the UN-led peace process.

We can't ignore the fact that the erosion of the economy and basic services continues to drive the humanitarian crisis throughout Yemen. A lot of people who look at the situation, they say it looks hopeless. I do not see it that way. Clearly, Samantha does not see it that way, nor does the United States. And millions of Yemenis and humanitarian workers across Yemen haven't given up hope either. They're working tirelessly to care for the most vulnerable and to adapt and find new ways and provide for their families and their communities. Their efforts are having an impact. They have prevented famine thus far and saved countless lives. We as donors cannot abandon them now and we must do more.

The Yemen humanitarian response is less than 50 percent funded. If we cannot mobilize additional funding, we will see more Yemenis die when they could have been saved. And we will restrict further the space for building peace in the country. Ultimately, the peace process in Yemen is built on the same thing that is driving the humanitarian response. It's the work of Yemenis who are committed to shaping a brighter future for their country. We must ensure they have the support of the international community to do so. And that's why we are gathering here this morning. Thank you Nawal.

MODERATOR: Thank you so much. Now I'm going to pass it over to the Executive Director of the UN's World Food Programme, David Beasley. David, you've been working on Yemen since 2016, I think, or even before. Tell us a bit about how that's been.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR BEASLEY: Well Nawal, you and I have been on the ground there, in fact, we were together in Hudaydah, the port, just a few years ago after the explosion, and then the attack on the port. We understand the importance of access. We understand the importance of ports, infrastructure, supply chain. And this is why we're putting so much focus on Tim who can help bring solutions.

And Tim Lendering, thank you for incredible work that you've been doing to try to bring this to an end. Then, of course, Samantha, working with her team. We know firsthand what happens when supply chains are disrupted, when economies are disrupted, because, as you said a little while ago, pricing is spiking.

In fact, the Rial was about 220 to the dollar when the war started. Now, somewhere around a thousand, you can imagine with food prices and lack of fuel, that it is a catastrophe. We've got five million people right now knocking on famine’s door. We’ve got 16 million people marching toward starvation.

So, the United States continued support financially has just been extraordinary. And as everyone has said, we need more help, particularly with all the crises we're facing, whether it's Afghanistan, the Tigray area in Ethiopia, Sudan and South Sudan. I can go on and on. We need support for the Yemeni people right now because our supply chain starts to run out again around October. So, we need others to step up immediately to help these innocent people of this war. Thank you.

MODERATOR: Thank you so much, David. And you're completely right. There are millions of people that are knocking on famine's door. I think when people think about Yemen, they think it's only the poor that are getting poorer. But they don't realize is that even the middle class now is kind of falling into that bracket below.

I'm going to start by directing a question to you, Tim. The change in administration has been very refreshing for Yemen. There's been a change of policy. We've seen more funding for aid and we've seen a real focus in trying to resolve the conflict. What I want to know from you is why is aid and why is dealing with Yemen's humanitarian crisis so important for conflict resolution?

SPECIAL ENVOY LENDERKING: Thanks, Nawal. I do appreciate how this administration has put more emphasis on Yemen and the resolution of the crisis. And I think the aid piece that I talked about, that Samantha and David talked about as well, is integrally linked with the political process.

If we don't have, you know, the kind of humanitarian response that we're talking about, infrastructure will crumble further, people will be displaced. There could be more refugees across international borders, including into the open seas.

David mentioned the collapse of the economy or the collapse of the Rial in particular. It is a sad reality that in certain parts of the country, there is food on the shelves but people don't have the money to buy it. And so that's why I think the economic piece is so important here in terms of addressing it. So some of our efforts are very much focused on staving off the deterioration of the Rial even further and making sure that civil servants who are working for the government of Yemen have the salaries that they need, that they deserve, in which they could use to increase their purchasing power.

So this is all integrally linked. And of course, you've got to get the parties, the combatants, to stop fighting because that, you know, the fighting prevents people from returning to their homes or prevents cultivation of fields in agriculture. It blocks and destroys key humanitarian arteries. So that's why I think the President has asked us to focus on both of these tracks. Without one, you're not going to get the other. And so that's why I think the mandate here puts emphasis on both of these tracks.

MODERATOR: No, you're completely right. It is devastating to see how the supermarkets in Yemen are completely stocked with food. Yet people, you know, they're empty. People can't afford to buy that food. And that creates the impossible choices people have to make. Right. Sending their children to the front lines because they can't afford to feed them anymore or marrying off their young daughters because it's the one less mouth to feed. And it's really devastating.

Samantha, I want to ask you, you know, the Humanitarian Response Plan for Yemen is still facing nearly a $2.5 billion shortfall. What does this actually mean on the ground?

ADMINISTRATOR POWER: Well, it means that programs that are working will have to be scaled back. It means that people who aren't currently being reached have almost no prospect of getting reached. It means, as David Beasley said, that the food that is a lifeline for those who don't have the cash to buy those goods in the market, that that food will not reach mothers like me and you, Nawal, who are, you know, we can't even conceive of what it would be like to look into the eyes of your child and just say, "Sorry, I was able to feed you last month, but I can't feed you this month because the humanitarian appeal was even less filled this year than it was last year." I mean, this is just it's life and death stuff.

Now, to be fair, again, as David indicated, the context globally is really, really difficult right now for governments. And I think all of us are also trying to be really creative about how we bring private citizens into this cause, the private sector, nontraditional donors who have tended to leave Yemen to the United States, the European Union and some of the the Gulf donors, we need all hands on deck and we know how stretched governments and by definition, citizens are all around the world with all the other crises that are going on.

But we have to be able to sustain the programming that has already been put in place and expand it. And if I could just maybe add one thing to Tim's, I think, really important answer about the link between the humanitarian assistance and access questions and the political track, which is, of course, what has to fundamentally pay dividends or we’ll continue to be just dealing with the symptoms and not able to get to the root causes. But on one level, when we, when we have aid to deliver or when we have a policy push that is humanitarian, like the need to allow in fuel or the need to allow unimpeded access, it's extremely important also that the parties on the ground comply.

MODERATOR: We hear about the Houthis impeding the distribution of aid across the country. Why should we be giving more money when this aid maybe doesn't make it to the people who are most in need? But, David, I've been there with you and I've seen how the aid is being offloaded at Hudaydah's Port, you know, I've been there and I've watched as the families and at Hudaydah, or the families in Aden or Sanaa are receiving some of this lifesaving aid that's being distributed across the country. Can you just clarify, is the aid actually getting to the people in need?

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR BEASLEY: Yeah, you know, we operate in areas of conflict all over the world, in fact 80 percent of our operations worldwide or in areas of conflict. So, we know how to come in the most difficult places on Earth and get the aid to the people.

And Nawal, you know as well as I, you've seen me jump up and down, and be pretty hard. I've been pretty hard on both sides of this conflict. And so I've been pretty, pretty tough on everybody in saying, look, we want to reach as many people as possible. And now, especially when we don't have enough money around the world, it's donors’ obligations to put that money where it’s the most strategic and effective. And so we really are telling the Houthis, telling the government, please don't play games with us. Let us reach the people.

You remember when we were on the ground, we saw what was happening. We saw that the World Food Programme can reach the people. We can do it. And I tell you, Samantha and Tim were talking about this, when you are on the ground and you see the economic impact, which is truly killing more people than the war itself. And we need to end the conflict.

But I remember walking into the hospital and talking to the doctor and I said, you know, because of lack of food, you can imagine, children's immune system diminishes, which means they're more vulnerable, not just to COVID, but cholera, diphtheria. Let me keep going. And so I was in the hospital and I asked the doctor, I said, "How many beds do you have?" And he said, "Well, we have this many beds." I said, "Well, what happens on a daily basis?" He said, "Well, we have to turn mothers away with their children." I said, "Well, what happens?" He said, "Well, they go home to die."

We would have had famine and extreme death of extraordinary numbers if it were not for the United States and other donors that have been stepping up so far. We are reaching the people. We are getting the food to the people who need it. Let us not penalize the innocent victims of this war from lack of access or lack of money because the people are depending on us and these children deserve better. And so, Nawal, back to you.

MODERATOR: Tim, why is it so important now? Why is it so important for countries and states and donors to prioritize Yemen?

SPECIAL ENVOY LENDERKING: I think that David and Samantha made some great points here about the urgency of the situation and the fact that, you know, famine is on the brink once again. So we're literally talking about using international funds to save lives.

But to put it to immediate effect. And that's why also the points made about the port, in particular, are so important. I mean, the United States does not support any restrictions on fuel imports into Hudaydah Port or any of the other ports of Yemen. And so we've called on and we call again on the Saudi-led coalition and the Yemen government to lift any restrictions on the movement of fuel into the country. That's one big factor. And it has been a great concern of ours.

Similarly, as has been pointed out, we've seen the Houthi stockpile and use the black market to drive up the prices of fuel beyond the reach of ordinary Yemenis. So that's impacting the transport networks, that's impacting the flour mills, that's impacting the hospitals as well. And I think also that the failure of the Houthis really to abide by the Stockholm Agreement and to use funds, rather than supporting the war effort - such as in the offensive in Marib - but to use those funds for the benefit of the civil servants, as I mentioned earlier.

So, you know, just as my colleagues have said, the parties themselves have to get on the side of right on these issues. They have to stop obstructing. They have to start facilitating. And of course, the war fits into all this. As long as any party continues to see that there is a military solution or that they can continue to gain territory, subjecting Yemen's already stretched humanitarian infrastructure even further, recruiting young men who should be in school and could be in school through the kind of funding that we're talking about, but instead forcibly conscripting or putting a lot of pressure on families and tribes to put their sons, their brothers, their husbands, you know, into the war effort.

It is directly counter, I think, to where the international community is right now. So that's why we're calling on the parties to cease the fighting, particularly the offensive in Ma'rib, which is the most sort of egregious example at the moment, and to allow the economic arteries in the country to open up. This is what's going to give Yemenis hope that the international effort is going to succeed.

MODERATOR: David, I want to ask you, Samantha spoke about what the impact aid cuts have on ordinary people in Yemen. I was there last year when there were major aid cuts after the COVID crisis. And I saw families being told that they were going to get half the amount of aid they received the month before. And, you know, we tend to think of people in Yemen as numbers. We forget that there are real people that are receiving this news, and it's real people and real parents that are having to bear the brunt of these decisions that are being made.

Can you tell us a bit about why it's so important? We know that a lot of states pledge, they make pledges, but they don't actually follow through. What impact does this have on WFP’s planning on the ground?

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR BEASLEY: Well, let me be very clear. I haven't, and WFP has not fed a single person based on a promise.

Promises do no good if you don't follow through with the money. And in fact, in Yemen, this was the poorest, one of the poorest countries on the face of the planet before the war started. You can only imagine the economic deterioration that's taking place and literally because of the support like the United States and others, we've been able to prevent famine.

That's a nice word, but what I'm talking about is millions of children not dying, millions of people not dying if we don't receive the funds that we need. You can't go two to three weeks without food. I mean, it's just a reality of life. And so we've got to get the support we need, particularly in the next six months, because our supply chain, we run out in about October. We need for those who made pledges to write the checks so that we can put food in the mouths of children throughout Yemen.

ADMINISTRATOR POWER: There have been very significant contributions made by others. And what we need now is for all countries who are part of the United Nations family to dig deep and to look at this appeal and see whether there is some portion of this appeal that can be met.

MODERATOR: Thank you, Samantha. That's really important.

David, you've traveled to Yemen over the last couple of years, ever since the war began there in 2015. Can you tell us about how the situation there has changed over the years?

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR BEASLEY: I was looking for a picture while Samantha was talking. But this is a picture of schoolchildren that the United States and others have funded. And you can see, I mean, when you go see those children, that's what it's all about. And I remember someone, that just, I get this question all the time. "How do you stay optimistic with so much misery and suffering around the world?" And I'll show them a picture like that right there. And I say, "When you see those little children, it is like flowers in the desert. You can't give up on these children." We can't.

Just imagine that was your little girl or your little boy, and this is humanity. These are our brothers and our sisters, and we owe it to them. And I've seen the deterioration take place and I've seen what happens when the donors step in and provide us the funds that we need to avert famine and save lives and put these children's futures on a brighter course.

But this is not, as Samantha was saying, we can't continue to stick a finger in the dike here, though important as humanitarian aid is, we've got to end the conflict. Those in the conflict have got to come to the table. Think about the future. And while we wait on that magic moment, do everything we can to minimize the negative impact on these children as we see it every single day. When you feed 13 million people every given day, week or month, you know what's going on. You see the suffering firsthand. And so when we don't have the money for the children and the families in Yemen it's not right to ask us who should eat and not eat. We need to provide the funds for all the people in need inside Yemen.

MODERATOR: No, I don't envy any of your jobs, to be honest. Thank you so much for that, David.

I'm going to wrap up the discussion by giving you the three of you a chance to just give us a final thought before we wrap up this call. Samantha, please go ahead.

ADMINISTRATOR POWER: Well, first, I’ll just say that what is so critical is an inclusive and sustainable political solution, an end to the conflict. And we just can't ever lose sight of that. We who are humanitarians or development professionals, we root harder than you will ever know for the success of our diplomats who are out there recognizing that we've got to bring the parties together and end this conflict. That's the way we will end this humanitarian crisis in the long term.

But in the meantime, we are calling on donor countries, countries that have resources that have been incredibly generous, whether on this crisis or on other crises around the world, just to do their part. If everybody chips in, if everybody steps up and fulfills the pledges they've already made quickly without delay, with haste and makes new pledges or better yet, new dispersals of funding to the organizations doing this critical work on the ground, we will be able to save lives together. It's that simple. It really is.

There's an algorithm here. The more resources that we bring to bear, the more lives that we will save. We have to equip the United Nations and the NGOs on the ground with the resources that they need to address what is a preventable humanitarian catastrophe. We are capable of doing good, even in dire circumstances. But no single country, no handful of countries can do this alone.

I look forward to continuing to work with the World Food Programme, the State Department, and all of our partners who have been so generous, whether on Yemen or on other crises, to really mobilize the funding that this level of need demands. Thank you so much.

MODERATOR: Thank you so much, Tim. Please go ahead with your final thought.

SPECIAL ENVOY LENDERKING: Thank you, Nawal. You know, as we've talked about, the Yemen conflict is going into its seventh year and every year is a year too long for the conflict. Some observed early on that after five months of conflict, Yemen was starting to look like Syria after five years of conflict. And that's because things were not in good shape in Yemen, I think, when this whole conflict started. We've talked about the economy here is a major issue, but Yemen does not have to be a forever war. This is one that can be resolved.

This is not beyond the capabilities of the Yemeni people or the international community, but it has to be done soon because what we're seeing before us is the, you know, the decline in humanitarian services, infrastructure, the brink of famine, as we've talked about. It makes no sense under these circumstances to continue fighting such as the Houthis are doing through their offensive in Ma'rib. They are not winning that conflict. It is stalemated. Time to put down the weapons, get to the table.

Same time, we've talked about three key issues: access, we've talked about funding and we’ve talked about the fighting. The access must be opened up. All the parties have a responsibility to open up access in areas in their control. Let the humanitarians get in there and do what they need to do. Let the economy rebuild. Let us get focused on rebuilding infrastructure so people can return to their homes. This is doable, Nawal. And with the tremendous amount of international support we have, we do need more. Samantha is absolutely right.

The political process can be teased out from this situation. And I think there's a huge amount of pressure in the Security Council in the P5 as well, and among the regional countries to see this conflict brought to an end as quickly as possible. Thank you.

MODERATOR: Thank you so much. And David, over to you for your final word, please.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR BEASLEY: Well, thank you, Nawal. It's great to be with Samantha and Tim. Samantha's team at USAID have been absolutely remarkable to work with in this very complex environment. And Tim, we're praying and hoping that you'll continue to make progress and help bring this war to an end soon so that we can put the lives of the innocent victims of this conflict back to a better course, give them a brighter future, and a lot of hope.

But until then, I can assure you that the World Food Programme and all of our partners will be on the ground reaching every single person that we can reach, maximizing the effectiveness of every single dollar, and doing everything we can to reduce hurdles, impediments, obstacles, by any and all parties involved with the conflict. But let's hope for the best.

In the meantime, let's keep saving lives as we're doing so. Thank you very, very much.

MODERATOR: Thank you so much, David, and thank you, the three of you, USAID Administrator Samantha Power and the United States Special Envoy for Yemen, Tim Lenderking, and the Executive Director of the U.N. World Food Programme, David Beasley. Thank you for the work that the three of you do and for joining us today.

We get lost in all the numbers that sometimes we forget that there are people and that there are families and that there are lives that this aid saves. There are so many families in Yemen that are having to make such impossible choices every day. And the aid and the funding for aid that you give can really save them from making these impossible choices that no parent should ever have to make.

It's been an absolute pleasure hosting this and speaking to our three brilliant speakers today. Please do share this event on your social media platforms by copying and pasting the link. Thank you for watching. And for me, it's goodbye.