“Decisive” action is required to stem aid fraud and obstruction to millions who need it in Yemen, according to the US and British governments. In a strongly worded letter, obtained by The New Humanitarian, both say they will take “unilateral” action to reduce funding if the relief operation – one of the biggest in the world – is not trimmed and better controlled.

The 5 February draft letter to UN relief chief Mark Lowcock throws down a challenge to the UN, NGOs, and other donor countries as they prepare to meet in Brussels this week to discuss long-simmering concerns about Houthi rebel obstruction of assistance.

Together the countries gave $1.16 billion in 2019, about a third of the more than $3 billion UN-coordinated response. In the letter they call for a “reduction and re-focusing of all bilateral and UN assistance”, and less funding to Houthi-controlled institutions as part of a new “posture” towards the group, which runs much of north Yemen, including the capital city of Sana’a.

Yemen’s humanitarian disaster – marked by widespread hunger, cholera epidemic, and economic collapse – is the outcome of more than five and a half years of war that has pitted Houthi rebels and their allies against the government of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, backed by a Saudi Arabia-led coalition.

Dealing with massive needs – the UN says 24 million people, or 80 percent of Yemen’s population, need assistance – the aid response has long been plagued by accusations of interference by both sides, notably including a November 2018 Saudi closure of all the country’s borders that contributed to warnings of famine.

Public audits and statements by aid groups, as well as media reports, suggest that significant amounts of money and supplies are wasted and political factors influence projects and contracts in Yemen.

Half a dozen aid workers with the UN and NGOs – all of whom spoke to TNH on the condition of anonymity because they did not want to jeopardise their safety or ability to work in Yemen – said that multiple factors, including red tape, movement restrictions, and concerns over safety all make it extremely difficult to deliver assistance. A spokesperson for OCHA, the UN’s aid coordination body that Lowcock heads, was not able to comment in time for publication.