UN seeks $4.27 billion in appeal for Yemenis

CAIRO－A United Nations appeal for Yemen on Wednesday is aiming to raise $4.27 billion to alleviate what it describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with 161,000 people likely to experience famine there this year.

The virtual pledging conference is co-hosted by Sweden and Switzerland. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will address donors on the dire needs of the Arab world's poorest country.

The conference comes as world attention is gripped by the conflict in Ukraine, which has overshadowed other humanitarian crises across the world since it began on Feb 24－raising concerns that Yemen's plight may be forgotten. More than 3 million people have fled Ukraine, which has seen Europe's heaviest fighting since World War II.

Last year's conference raised only some $1.7 billion for Yemen, out of $3.85 billion that the UN had appealed for as the coronavirus pandemic and its devastating consequences hit economies around the globe. Guterres called last year's result "disappointing".

Yemen's war started in 2014 when the Iran-backed rebel Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and much of the country's north. A Saudi-led, US-backed coalition intervened months later to dislodge the rebels and restore the internationally recognized government.

The conflict has in recent years become a regional proxy war that has killed more than 150,000 people, including over 14,500 civilians. The war has also created the world's worst humanitarian crisis, leaving millions suffering from food and medical care shortages and pushing the country to the brink of famine.

The majority of Yemen's 32 million people live in Houthi-held areas. The rebels have for years been implicated in aid theft and withholding it for extortion.

Earlier this year, UN experts said they documented that the rebels provided or denied humanitarian aid to families "solely on the basis whether their children participated in fighting or to teachers on the basis of whether they taught the Houthi curriculum".

Food insecurity

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, has warned that a total of 19 million people are expected to face acute food insecurity by the second half of this year－an increase of around 20 percent compared to the first six months of last year. Of this 19 million estimation, 161,000 people are likely to experience famine.

OCHA said half of the country's health facilities are shuttered or destroyed. It said the Yemeni currency rial lost 57 percent of its value last year in government-run areas, while persistent fuel shortages drove up prices of food and other basic commodities in the Houthi-controlled north.

It also said 4.3 million Yemenis have been driven from their homes. Around one-fifth of the newly displaced last year were in the energy-rich province of Marib, which the Houthis have attempted to take control of for over a year.

With the $4.27 billion for Yemen, the UN aims to provide support to 17.3 million people this year, out of the 23.4 million who need aid.

Agencies via Xinhua