West News Wire: The UN estimates that it needs $4.3 billion this year to assist millions of people in the war-torn nation of Yemen, warning that failure to do so will put those people in danger due to the Saudi-led coalition’s ongoing siege.
The world organization’s announcement came before a donors’ summit on Monday as new reports indicate that the humanitarian situation in the Arab nation is rapidly deteriorating.
With the armed and logistical help of their Western allies, Saudi Arabia and its allies began the catastrophic war on Yemen in March 2015, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Yemenis.
In addition, the war destroyed the nation’s infrastructure, forced millions of people to flee their homes, and resulted in the largest humanitarian disaster of our time.
The most recent truce, which began in April 2022, had rekindled hopes of peace, but the Saudi-led coalition breached the terms of the ceasefire agreement, prompting Yemenis to continue resistance.
The world body in its appeal said aid agencies need the money to help more than 17 million people in the Arab country, which has been affected by the devastating eight-year war on the country.
The aid appeal from the United Nations comes as the Arab country is also teetering at the brink of the climate crisis, with severe drought and flooding threatening millions of lives, the UN said.
It acknowledged that “record global humanitarian needs are stretching donor support like never before.”
“But without sustained support for the aid operation in Yemen, the lives of millions of Yemenis will hang in the balance, and efforts to end the conflict once and for all will become even more challenging,” the world body said in a statement.
The international community has “the power and the tools to end this crisis,” according to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who will attend the donor conference in Geneva.
In a statement, he said, “And it starts with fully supporting our appeal and agreeing to swiftly disbursing monies.”
But in the face of fierce and unyielding resistance from the Yemeni people, the Saudi-led coalition and its Western supporters have failed to achieve any of their goals.
