UN requires $4.2bn for life-saving aid in Yemen
The four-year-long civil war in Yemen has killed tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, displaced 3 million others, and pushed the country to the brink of famine
SANAA: In its humanitarian response plan in Yemen for 2019, the United Nations is seeking $ 4.2 billion to provide life-saving assistance to 21.4 million people in Yemen.
“Four years of continuous conflict have contributed to turning Yemen into the worst humanitarian crisis in our time,” Yemen Humanitarian Coordinator Lise Grande said in a statement.
Grande added “the level of suffering is shocking, as 80 per cent of the total population (24.1 million people) is in need of some form of humanitarian assistance and protection, 10 million people one step away from starvation and seven million malnourished people.”
Grandi noted that “the largest humanitarian operation is currently underway in Yemen.” The Humanitarian Coordinator confirmed that humanitarian workers need more funding this year than ever before.
Conflict
“We hope that 2019 will be a year of peace in Yemen, but if it does not, and the conflict continues, millions of innocent people will suffer, and many will die,” she said.
According to the statement, the strategy of the humanitarian response plan for Yemen 2019 revolves around five priority objectives, including helping millions overcome hunger, reducing cholera and infectious diseases, enhancing the dignity of displaced families, reducing the risk of displacement and violence against civilians, maintaining the capacity of public sector institutions to provide basic life-saving services.
Yemen’s $ 4.2 billion humanitarian response programme will allow 254 partners to help millions of Yemenis most in need of aid.
Saudi Arabia is leading an Arab military coalition that intervened in Yemen in March 2015 to support the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after Houthi rebels forced him into exile and seized much of the country’s north, including the capital Sanaa.
The four-year-long civil war in Yemen has killed tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, displaced 3 million others, and pushed the country to the brink of famine.