UN raises $1.2bn from donors towards $4.3bn Yemen aid plan
The United Nations has raised about $1.2bn (£996m) from crisis-strained donors towards its $4.3bn aid plan for Yemen, one of the world’s biggest humanitarian disasters despite a nowar, no-peace stalemate that has largely stopped fighting.
Underfunding has seen agencies scale back Yemen aid projects, including food rations, in the past couple of years. Last year donors gave $2.2bn of the $4.27bn sought, UN data shows.
The US, Yemen’s top donor, pledged more than $444m for this year’s humanitarian response, bringing its total contribution since the start of Yemen’s war to $5.4bn.
“Record global humanitarian needs are stretching donor support like never before, but without sustained support for the aid operation in Yemen, the lives of millions of Yemenis will hang in the balance,” the UN said in a statement.
The high-level pledging event to kick off this year’s fundraising was cohosted by Sweden and Switzerland. Globally the UN has said it needs a record $51.5bn for aid this year.
Yemen’s eight-year conflict pits a Saudi Arabian-led military coalition against the Iran-aligned Houthi group, which ousted Yemen’s internationally recognised government from the capital, Sana’a, in late 2014.
The war has killed tens of thousands of people, devastated infrastructure and the economy, and left two-thirds of the population – more than 21 million people – needing assistance.
A UN-brokered truce initially agreed last April has delivered the longest stretch of relative calm and has largely held despite expiring in October without agreement between the warring sides to extend it.
The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) said that, over the past year, the number of people living in famine-like conditions fell from 161,000 to zero, but warned that gains could be reversed.
“We’re hearing reports that food insecurity is increasing,” the WFP Yemen director, Richard Ragan, said.
The WFP, which feeds 13 million in Yemen and seeks $2.9bn this year, says funding shortfalls have left most of its activities at reduced levels. Since June, 5 million people have been receiving half their daily needs and 8 million have been getting a quarter.
Erin Hutchinson, Yemen director for the Norwegian Refugee Council aid group, said the amount raised on Monday was woefully inadequate for Yemen’s needs.
“The international community today showed it has abandoned Yemen at this crucial crossroads,” she said.
Saudi Arabia and the Houthis are engaging in direct talks facilitated by Oman in parallel to UN efforts to establish a formal ceasefire and launch inclusive political negotiations.
“Ultimately, ending the conflict is the only way to end this humanitarian catastrophe. The temporary ceasefire demonstrated the potential to reduce civilian suffering,” said Jared Rowell, IRC’s Yemen country director.
The US, Saudi Arabia, Germany and the EU were the top four donors last year, UN data shows.