‘World must rally to save Yemenis’
Only massive aid can prevent widespread famine, says UN
THE UN needs massive funds to avert a famine in Yemen, and the warring parties there must ensure humanitarian aid can be delivered, UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said yesterday as he opened a donor conference in Geneva, Switzerland.
A UN appeal for $2.1 billion (R27.2bn) this year for Yemen, where Guterres said a child under the age of 5 died of preventable causes every 10 minutes, was only 15% covered.
Two years of conflict between Houthi rebels aligned with Iran and a Western-backed, Saudi-led coalition that carries out air strikes almost daily have killed at least 10 000 people, and hunger and disease are rife.
Nearly 19 million people, or two thirds of the population, needed emergency aid, Guterres said, renewing a call for peace talks and urging all parties to “facilitate the rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian aid by air, sea and land”.
“We are witnessing the starving and the crippling of an entire generation. We must act now to save lives. All infrastructure must remain open and operational.”
Yemen’s Prime Minister Ahmed Obeid bin Daghr said his government, which controls only part of the country, would allow access for aid supplies.
“We are ready to open new corridors for this aid,” he said.
Initial pledges announced at the conference included $150m from Saudi Arabia, $100m from Kuwait, €50m (R704m) from Germany and $94m from the US.
The World Food Programme (WFP) had committed $1bn to Yemen and reached a record 5 million people last month with rations, but needed to scale up deliveries to reach 9 million deemed “severely food insecure”, said regional director Muhannad Hadi.
They included around 3 million malnourished children.
“If the international community does not move right now, and if WFP does not get the right funding and support to address all needs, I think the cost of that will be real famine that will shame us in the coming months and weeks,” Hadi said.
Yemen imports 90% of its food, 70% of which passes through the strategic Red Sea port of Hodeidah. Concerns are growing about a possible attack by the Yemeni government and its Arab allies, who say the Houthis use it to smuggle weapons and ammunition.
“We are concerned about all facilities in Yemen because at this stage we can’t afford to even lose one bridge or one road network, let alone to lose a major facility like Hodeidah port,” Hadi said.