US announces $444 million to Yemen as humanitarian needs soar
Despite the fresh US assistance, a donors conference for Yemen raised less than one-third of what the United Nations said is needed to avert further humanitarian crisis.
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced Monday it would send more than $444 million in new assistance to Yemen, where nearly a decade of civil war has left a majority of the population reliant on humanitarian aid.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the funding as a high-level pledging conference in Geneva sought to raise $4.3 billion for the United Nations’ aid plan for Yemen.
Participating countries on Monday failed to raise even half that amount. The 31 donors cobbled together $1.2 billion — just 28% of what the UN said was needed to prevent further humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen this year.
The call for fresh funding came as the UN warned two-thirds of Yemen’s population — some 21.6 million people — depend on outside aid, and more than 2 million Yemeni children suffer from acute malnutrition.
