The United Nations, along with Saudi Arabia, is making an urgent plea to shore up the aid operations in war-torn Yemen. This comes as many aid groups have highlighted that they had been refrained from working despite the pandemic outbreak.
After pledging the conference on Yemen on Tuesday, the UN said that more than 40 major aid groups would end their operation in the next few weeks. Earlier, the World Food Program had to cut their ration to Yemen and limiting funded health services to 189 out of 369 hospitals.
Saudi Arabia and the UN expects to raise nearly $2.4 billion; for the first time, it will be co-hosted by Saudi Arabia. It is a major player in Yemen’s civil war since it first bombed the country in 2015 to turn the Houthi rebels back after they had captured the northern half of the country.
More
- Yemen: UN Warns of New Humanitarian Crisis Amid COVID-19 Fears
- Yemen’s Houthi Rebels Sentence Four Journalists To Death
Political experts across the world have questioned Saudi Arabia’s efforts to gather humanitarian support for Yemen as it continues to wage war against Yemen, which has created what the UN has called the world’s worst humanitarian disaster.
The ground clashes and airstrikes have killed more than 100,000 civilians, including women, children, and many senior citizens. According to the report by the UN, millions of people are still internally displayed with worst living conditions and facing a man-made famine.
Thousands of additional deaths related to severe malnutrition and Cholera epidemics have also been recorded. With no potential signs of a viable solution to five years-long civil war, the suffering for the people looks set to continue.
However, in response to Saudi steps, the Houthis dismissed the UN conference and described it as a silly attempt to gloss over their crimes in the country. Academics have said that Saudi Arabia is trying to change its international image and present itself as the legitimate backer of the government in Yemen, not as a part of the conflict.
In the past years, the kingdom had been one of the top donors for Yemen’s humanitarian aid. Mohammed al-Jaber, the Saudi ambassador to Yemen, has said that the kingdom will pledge half a billion dollars to support the UN programs in Yemen this year.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, and Mark Lowcock, UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, will take part in the aid conference.
Meanwhile, the UNICEF officials also expressed their concerns over the situation in the war-torn country. In a joint statement with the World Food Program, it said, “we are running out of time”.
The Doctors Without Borders, an international aid organization, has also expressed concerns over the health care system in Yemen and its capacity to fight against the pandemic outbreak. The UN says that the virus has spread in all of Yemen, but because of a lack of mass testing, very few of them are reported.
The UK, which is also the biggest arms supplier to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has also pledged $200 million for aid programs in Yemen. In 2019, the UN received $3.6 billion, which was short of its $4.2 billion goals. However, for 2020, it has so far received only 15 percent of its $3.5 billion goals.
