The UK is abandoning its moral obligations to the world by slashing aid to Yemen in a move that will condemn thousands of children to starvation. 

In the first casualty of catastrophic cuts to the UK’s international aid budget, the government has drastically reduced support to Yemen — the greatest humanitarian crisis on Earth – in the middle of a global pandemic.

Yemen is currently facing the worst famine the world has seen in decades. The coronavirus pandemic, cholera epidemics and severe malnutrition among children have crippled a country already gripped by devastating civil conflict. 

Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, warned: "The shortfall in humanitarian aid will be measured in lives lost."

The damaging cuts come as a direct result of the UK’s decision to cut aid spending from 0.7% to 0.5% GNI – a move universally slammed by public figures and previous UK prime-ministers. 

The UK has been the only G7 country to cut aid this year, while other G7 countries are ramping up their humanitarian support during a pandemic which has worsened the already “dire humanitarian” situation in fragile states such as Syria, Yemen and South Sudan.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has stated that the UK should be a "force for good in the world", but the government’s decision to cut life-saving international aid and continue arms sales that fuel conflict in Yemen demonstrates the opposite. 

MPs and the UK public cannot stand by and watch this happen. We need to urgently oppose the government decision to cut aid at a time of huge global need. 

Send an email to your MP now urging them to write to the Prime Minister and speak out on the human impacts of catastrophic aid cuts in parliament.