UN lists objectives for humanitarian aid in Yemen

By Zeynep Tufekci

SANAA, Yemen (AA) - The UN on Monday set five priority targets for humanitarian aid in Yemen, especially fighting hunger and epidemics.

Resident Coordinator in Yemen, Lise Grande, listed the objectives for 2019 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan in a written statement that includes “helping millions of people overcome hunger; promoting the dignity of displaced families; decreasing the risk of displacement and violence against civilians; and preserving the capacity of public sector institutions to deliver life-saving basic services.”

Grande said the goal is to collect $4.2 billion for 21.4 million Yemenis in the framework of humanitarian aid plan initiated by UN and its allies on Feb. 18.

This is the largest consolidated humanitarian appeal for Yemen ever launched, according to the statement.

“The level of suffering is shocking. Eighty percent of the entire population -- 24.1 million people -- requires some form of humanitarian assistance or protection,” Grande said, adding that 10 million people are on the brink of famine, and 7 million suffer from malnutrition.

The UN will organize an international high-level humanitarian aid conference on Yemen, in Geneva, Switzerland on Tuesday.

Yemen has been wracked by violence since 2014 when the Shia Houthi group overran much of the country.

The crisis escalated in 2015 when a Saudi Arabian-led coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi gains.

Since then, tens of thousands of Yemenis, including numerous civilians, are believed to have been killed in the conflict, while another 14 million are now at risk of starvation, according to the UN.