Yemen's Needs Aid

 Millions of Yemenis require humanitarian assistance as the country continues to suffer from the fallout of a prolonged civil war.

 At a high-level UN event, global donors pledged US$1.2 billion in aid operations to Yemen in 2023.  The amount pledged remains well below the organisation’s target of US$4.3 billion. The UN missed its financing target for Yemen by US$2 billion last year.

Yemen's inflation is up to 45 percent. Elsewhere, food prices surged by 58 percent. In 2022.

13 million people in Yemen relied on the UN’s World Food Program for basic staples. 

To date, the conflict has killed more than 375,000 people, sixty percent from indirect causes (mainly from malnutrition and disease). 

The war has also damaged the country’s civilian and physical infrastructure, including its oil sector – Yemen’s only source of foreign exchange.

Yemen continues to rely on foreign aid. “More than 21 million people, or two-thirds of the country’s population, will need humanitarian assistance in 2023,” said UN secretary-general António Guterres. He warned that aid funding would not provide a panacea for Yemen. “Humanitarian assistance is a band-aid. It saves people’s lives but cannot resolve the conflict itself.”

Among those in need, more than 17 million are understood to be living below Yemen’s poverty line. Meanwhile, an estimated 4.5 million Yemenis are internally displaced, largely due to climate-change-related events.

According to the UN, Yemen is “highly vulnerable” to the effects of rising global temperatures (notably arid weather). In recent years, severe droughts have exacerbated food shortages caused by the war.

UN Falls Short of Aid Pledge to Yemen Despite Peace Efforts | Inter Press Service (ipsnews.net)