The World Food Programme (WFP) will use funding collected at the High-Level Pledging Event for the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen to target the country's regions most affected by food insecurity, such as Al Hudaydah, Reem Nada, a regional communications officer at the World Food Programme (WFP) told Sputnik on Friday.

The event on Tuesday organized by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) gathered $2.6 billion in aid from various partners to fund the 2019 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan. The United Nations seeks $4 billion from its members to provide life-saving assistance to 21.4 million people in Yemen.

"WFP will focus on distributing this assistance in the worst affected governorates including Al Hudaydah, Hajjah, Sa'ada, Taiz, Ad Dale, Lahj, and Amran where most of their districts are under IPC Phase 4," Nada said, referring to districts with an "emergency" level of food insecurity.

Nada added that if the funding target was not met by the United Nations and its partners over the year, then the WFP would have to prioritize the aid distribution.

"WFP will work closely with the clusters and its partners to advocate for additional funding to meet the needs. If the funds are not raised, WFP will be forced to prioritise its assistance," Nada said.

According to the UN OCHA there are 230 districts in Yemen, out of a total of 333, that are food insecure. The 2019 Humanitarian Response Plan notes "catastrophic levels of hunger" in the country, which has been engulfed in an armed conflict for several years.

AFP.