Failure of UN pledging conference on Yemen poses real threat to millions in poor country

Abdullatif Al-Washali
Press TV, Sana'a

A recent UN-organized pledging conference on Yemen raised only 1.3 billion dollars, less than a third of what is needed to help millions of poor people in Yemen. That’s despite the fact the dire humanitarian situation in Yemen is getting worse day by day.

In the past, many countries pledged large sums of money and later refused to pay what was agreed. That includes members of the Saudi-led coalition. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar pledged no aid on Yemen this year.

Riyadh's representative said Saudi Arabia has in recent years provided Yemenis with over 19 billion dollars in aid.

Observers say Saudi Arabia is deliberately deepening what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

The UN aid drive on Yemen fell short of its goal as the number of needy people in Yemen has risen from 20 million in the last year to 23 million now.

Funding shortages have already forced aid agencies to downsize life-saving assistance programs. To make matters worse, funding for the humanitarian response in Yemen gets smaller and smaller. The failure of the UN pledging conference poses a real threat to lives of millions of Yemenis who rely solely on humanitarian aid to survive.

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