Civil war costs Yemen US$14 billion in damage and economic losses

WASHINGTON: The cost from damage to infrastructure and economic losses in Yemen’s civil war is more than US$14 billion so far, according to a confidential report seen by Reuters that highlights the effort needed to rebuild the country, where more than half the population is suffering from malnutrition.

“The conflict has so far resulted in damage costs ( still partial and incomplete) of almost US$7 billion and economic losses (in nominal terms) of over US$7.3 billion in relation to production and service delivery,” said the May 6 joint report by the World Bank, United Nations, Islamic Development Bank and European Union.

The internationally recognised Yemeni government of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi is battling the Iran-allied Houthis in a bitter civil conflict, and is also facing the al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula militant group.

The 16- month civil war has killed more than 6,500 people, displaced more than 2.5 million and caused a humanitarian catastrophe in a country with a per capita gross domestic product the World Bank last estimated at only US$1,097 in 2013.

The Preliminary Damage and Needs Assessment report is an internal working document that is not being publicly released.

“These preliminary findings are not only partial, but also evolving” because the conflict is ongoing, the report said.

The assessment, it said, was conducted between late 2015 and early this year.

A survey by Yemen’s education ministry cited by the report showed that of 1,671 schools in 20 governorates which suffered damage, 287 need major reconstruction, 544 were serving as shelters for internally displaced persons, and 33 were occupied by armed groups. — Reuters