UNITED NATIONS, April 25 (APP): International donors at a high-level conference on Tuesday have pledged $1.1 billion to deal with the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hailed the pledges at the
conclusion of the daylong conference in Geneva, saying it had raised half of the $2.1 billion in funds sought this year in a U.N. appeal for Yemen.
At the start of the conference, Guterres lamented that the appeal had
only been about 15 percent funded.
Yemen’s war has killed over 10,000 civilians and pushed the Arab world’s poorest nation to the brink of famine. Aid groups want improved access to people in need, a halt to airstrikes by a Saudi-led coalition that is fighting Yemen’s rebels, and more respect for international law.
Nearly 19 million people or two-thirds of the population need emergency aid, Guterres said, renewing a call for peace talks and urging all parties to “facilitate the rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian aid by air, sea and land”.
“We are witnessing the starving and the crippling of an entire generation. We must act now to save lives,” he added.
“All infrastructure must remain open and operational.”
Yemen’s Prime Minister Ahmed Obeid Bin Daghr said his government, which controls only part of the country, would allow access for aid supplies. “We are ready to open new corridors for this aid,” he said.
Initial pledges announced at a donor conference in Geneva, included $150 million from Saudi Arabia, $100 million from Kuwait, â’¬50 million from Germany and $94 million from the United States.
