PRESS RELEASE

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First Grain Shipment in More Than Two Weeks Arrives in Hodeidah, Yemen

Nov. 27, 2017 (EIRNS)—The first grain shipment in more than two weeks docked in the Yemen port of Hodeidah, yesterday, a ship carrying 5,500 tons of wheat flour from China. Humanitarian groups, however, have warned that the arrival of lifesaving supplies should not be misinterpreted as an end to the pressing crisis, but instead as the first step in re-establishing a consistent flow of food and medicine to a country with millions of civilians in need, reports the New York Times.

"We are very grateful for what we could achieve yesterday," Geert Cappelaere, the regional director for Unicef, said in reference to the planeload of medicines and aid workers that were allowed to land in Sana’a on Saturday, during a briefing on Sunday in Jordan. "However, this is not enough. Much, much more is needed." Unicef delivered 1.9 million doses of vaccines to Sana'a on Saturday, and Cappelaere said the next critical step was to get them to those who need them.

"Ensuring that the supplies whatever they are are reaching every single vulnerable girl and boy throughout Yemen is another challenge."

Al Arabiya, meanwhile, made much of a Saudi-sponsored truck convoy that delivered 791 tons of food baskets to Marib province, for distribution not only in Marib but also in Jouf, Al-Bayda and Hadramout provinces as well. It appears, however, that most of the areas targeted for distribution of these food baskets are in areas controlled by the "official" government of Yemen, that backed by the Saudis, and not for people in areas where the Houthi Ansarullah movement is in control.