AFP |
A senior UN official appealed Monday for the international community “not to turn its back” on Yemen and to honor its pledges of aid for the impoverished and war-battered country.
“Four years of conflict according to the UNDP latest report have set back Yemen by 20 years,” United Nations Development Programme administrator Achim Steiner told AFP in an interview in Amman.
The UN report found the Saudi-UAE coalition is responsible for almost half of all child casualties last year in Yemen https://t.co/OZIJmn1BIt pic.twitter.com/elxCvGGc3d
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) July 29, 2019
He said the United Nations had received less than 36 percent of the $2.6 billion (2.3 billion euros) pledged at a Geneva conference in February.
“Currently in the next two or three months we can expect that if funding does not materialize, over 21 programs will have to be rolled back,” Steiner added following his first visit to Yemen since taking up his post in 2017.
The world should not turn its back on Yemen,” he urged, appealing for “solidarity and generosity” from the international community
Tens of thousands of people have died since a Saudi-led coalition intervened in support of the Yemeni government against Shiite Huthi rebels in 2015, according to relief agencies.
UN blacklists Saudi-UAE-led coalition over killing and wounding of 729 children in Yemen https://t.co/pKDJSl3iF3 pic.twitter.com/GDir6xVZ1X
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) July 27, 2019
“It is the worst humanitarian crisis in the world and in some respects, it is getting worse because hostilities and fighting still continue and the situation for 20 million or over two-thirds of Yemeni citizens require humanitarian support,” he said.
“Ten million people currently face the acute risk of famine.”
“The world should not turn its back on Yemen,” he urged, appealing for “solidarity and generosity” from the international community.
Read more: Should Europe be helping killing Yemenis: Europeans ask
An estimated 24 million Yemenis – more than 80 percent of the population – depend on some form of humanitarian or protection assistance for survival, according to the UN.
The world body has warned that millions of Yemenis are on the verge of famine, while essential health, education and other services have all but collapsed.
AFP with additional input by GVS news desk