Yemen must not become a forgotten crisis behind Ukraine, organizers of a UN pledging conference said yesterday, warning of catastrophic hunger if donations were not forthcoming.
The UN considers Yemen as the world’s worst humanitarian disaster, but the money preventing the situation from getting worse is now running out, they said.
“Today we are meeting to plug a huge gap in funding for the life-saving response,” UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths told reporters.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“The war is in its seventh year and counting. The economy lies in ruins. Basic services are collapsing,” Griffiths said.
“This year’s response needs nearly [US]$4.3 billion to help over 17 million people across Yemen,” he said.
As funding had been drying up since late last year, aid agencies were cutting back or stopping food and health services, he said.
“Today we hope to raise the money to replenish the food pipeline, stock up health clinics and provide shelter to the displaced, and to send a message to the people in Yemen that we do not forget them,” he said.
The British diplomat said that Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched last month, would have far-reaching secondary effects.
It will “surely harm the lives of many Yemenis,” he said, given that the country depends almost entirely on food imports, with nearly one-third of its wheat supplies coming from Ukraine.
Out of 31.9 million people in Yemen, 23.4 million were in need of humanitarian assistance, of which 12.9 million were in acute need, the UN said.
Yemen has been wracked by a devastating war since 2014, pitting the Iran-backed Houthi rebels against the internationally recognized government, supported by a Saudi Arabian-led military coalition.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed directly and indirectly in the war, and millions have been displaced.
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said that the levels of hunger could become catastrophic if the Ukraine crisis pushed up food prices.
Yesterday’s pledging event is being cohosted by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Switzerland and Sweden.
“As of course Ukraine keeps us very much busy and is a huge concern, it is crucial that no other crisis becomes a forgotten crisis,” said Manuel Bessler, Switzerland’s humanitarian aid head.
The humanitarian situation is poised to worsen between June and December, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, WFP and the UN Children’s Fund said in a joint statement.
“Yemen’s already dire hunger crisis is teetering on the edge of outright catastrophe, with 17.4 million people now in need of food assistance and a growing portion of the population coping with emergency levels of hunger,” they said.
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