The United Nations appealed for $4.3 billion on Monday to deliver aid this year to millions of people going hungry in war-ravaged Yemen — and urged authorities to turn a fragile truce into lasting peace.
The UN was holding a seventh pledging conference for Yemen in seven years but hoped the next such gathering could focus on rebuilding the broken country rather than staving off hunger. The UN says more than 21.7 million people — two-thirds of Yemen’s population — need humanitarian assistance this year. With its appeal, it aims to reach the 17.3 million most vulnerable of them.
“Together, let us at long last turn the tide of suffering. Let us give hope to the people of Yemen,” UN chief Antonio Guterres said in opening Monday’s conference in Geneva. “We have a real opportunity this year to change Yemen’s trajectory and move towards peace.”
Yemen has been wracked by a devastating war since 2014, pitting Iran-backed Huthi rebels against the internationally recognised government, supported by a Saudi-led military coalition.
Since then, the war has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths both directly and indirectly, and pushed the nation to the brink of famine.—AFP
