GENEVA, Switzerland —
Yemen is teetering on the brink of
catastrophe and must not be overshadowed by Ukraine, the UN insisted Wednesday,
urging donors to rescue the country from ruination.
اضافة اعلان
"Yemen may have receded from the
headlines, but the human suffering has not relented," UN Secretary-General
Antonio Guterres said as he opened a global pledging conference.
"For seven years and counting the
Yemeni people have been confronting death, destruction, displacement,
starvation, terror, division, and destitution on a massive scale."
The UN considers war-torn Yemen as the
world's worst humanitarian disaster — but the money preventing the situation
from getting worse is now running out, it warned.
"A funding crunch risks
catastrophe," said Guterres.
The UN is seeking $4.27 billion to help 17.3
million people — but is facing a vast funding gap.
Guterres said the economy was in despair,
millions were now facing extreme hunger and two in three Yemenis were living in
extreme poverty.
"Beyond these horrendous facts and
figures lies a country in ruins, its social fabric torn, its hopes for the
future shattered," he said.
As funding had been drying up since late
last year, aid agencies were being forced to cut back or stop food and health
services, UN humanitarian chief
Martin Griffiths told reporters.
"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," said Griffiths.
The British diplomat said Russia's
full-scale invasion of
Ukraine, launched last month, would have far-reaching
secondary impacts.
It will "surely harm the lives of many
Yemenis", he said, given that the country depends almost entirely on food
imports, with nearly a 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, said the UN.
Yemen has been wracked by a devastating war
since 2014, pitting the Iran-backed Huthi rebels against the internationally
recognized government, supported by a Saudi-led military coalition.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been
killed directly and indirectly in the war, and millions have been displaced.
'Teetering on the edge'
"As a matter of moral responsibility,
of human decency and compassion, of international solidarity, and of life and
death — we must support the people of Yemen now," said Guterres.
US Secretary of State
Antony Blinken said
Washington would contribute nearly $585 million more to Yemen.
"We're faced with a multiplicity of
challenges around the world and it's particularly difficult when the spotlight
has moved elsewhere. That's when the real test comes," he said.
"Once again, we are meeting at what is
a dire time for Yemen."
The
World Food Program (WFP) said the levels
of hunger could become catastrophic if the Ukraine crisis pushed up food
prices.
The humanitarian situation is poised to
worsen between June and December, the Food and Agriculture Organization, WFP,
and the
UNICEF children's agency 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," the three
UN agencies warned.
WFP said the number of people needing food
assistance had increased by 1.2 million over the past year — and is forecast to
reach 19 million people in the second half of 2022.
Read more Region and World
.jpg)
.jpg)
