LONDON: The director of UK-based charity Muslim Hands鈥� Yemen operation has called the situation in the country 鈥渢he worst humanitarian crisis in the past 100 years.鈥�

Abdul Rahman Hussein told Arab News that money is needed urgently to stave off hunger, with Yemen facing famine and 80 percent of the population of over 30 million in need of humanitarian aid.

He also highlighted the complete breakdown of the country鈥檚 healthcare and education systems, at a time when aid from the UK government is set to be dramatically slashed.

鈥淭he aid 鈥� wasn鈥檛 enough then, and current cuts will make the situation even worse,鈥� he said. 鈥淔ood security and healthcare will be hit the hardest, and the majority of Yemenis are dependent on NGOs and aid.鈥�

Hussein鈥檚 comments come as Muslims embark on the holy month of Ramadan, traditionally a time when many decide to donate zakat to charitable causes, and the period of the year when Muslim charities receive a significant portion of their annual income.

Last year, Muslim Hands raised almost a third of its annual income during Ramadan. Fellow charity Islamic Relief told The Guardian that it received 40 percent of all its funding at the same time.

The period, characterized by daily fasting and prayer, will this year prove difficult for many in Yemen.

Food prices 鈥渁re extremely high this Ramadan, which will mean that a lot of families won鈥檛 be able to put food on their table,鈥� Hussein said.

鈥淏efore the war, the Yemeni riyal was 214 to the dollar. Now it鈥檚 close to 1,000 to the dollar.鈥�

Muslim Hands told The Guardian that it is hoping to raise as much as 拢6 million ($8.27 million) to spend in Yemen, where it runs large bakeries and has a food parcel program for families in need, distributing enough staples such as flour, oil and rice to last each one a month. 

鈥淲e try to cover as much as we can. Our main projects are the bread factories 鈥� two in Aden and one in Marib,鈥� Hussein said.

鈥淲e targeted this area because it has the highest numbers of internally displaced people (IDPs), who are mostly women, children and disabled,鈥� he added.

鈥淐ollectively, through our bread factories, we support 28,000 beneficiaries every day, and 56,000 loaves of bread are distributed each day. We have a waiting list of beneficiaries that鈥檚 exhaustive because the need is so great.鈥�

Islamic Relief told The Guardian that despite cuts to UK aid spending, it has seen donations for its projects in Yemen increase from the general public.

Muhammad Zulqarnain Abbas, Yemen director for Islamic Relief, said the charity is supporting up to 2.3 million people every month, but many people still lack enough food for sahoor or iftar, forcing them to just drink water.

鈥淧eople are compelled to break their fast in the evening with simple water, and that water is even not clean,鈥� he said.

Hussein said: 鈥淚n Aden, which is the temporary capital with a population of 1.7 million, families only receive water every three days, and there鈥檚 a time constraint. If you miss that window, you have to wait another three days.鈥�

Muslim Hands, he added, is looking to help install a new water system in Aden. 鈥淭he old water system is over 50 years old, and the population (before the war) was less than 300,000. With an unchanged water system and a growing population, the demand for new systems and investment is even greater than before,鈥� he said.

鈥淵emen was a poor country prior to the war, and the war has created an even more devastating landscape.鈥�

Hussein added that getting food to children during Ramadan is an even more pressing concern.

According to UNICEF, as many as 2.3 million Yemeni children are at risk of malnutrition this year. 

鈥淥ur school feeding program has made a huge difference in Taiz city and covers 4,000 students 鈥� we provide them with breakfast every morning,鈥� he said.

鈥淔or most of these children this will be their only meal, and we have such a huge waiting list because parents want their children to attend this school because they know they鈥檒l be fed,鈥� he added.

鈥淲hen we visited the school, the headteacher told us that five children will faint every morning because of lack of food 鈥� many of these children wouldn鈥檛 have eaten for at least a full day. Thirty-five percent are orphans at this school, (and) 43 percent are IDPs.鈥�