As Yemen stares down the prospect of a devastating COVID-19 crisis, the World Health Organization is likely going to suspend about 80% of the health care services in the war-torn country by the end of the week, UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen Lise Grande said today.

The massive drawdown comes after the United States slashed the lion’s share of its humanitarian assistance to Yemen last month in the face of the Houthi rebels' onerous aid restrictions. Shortly thereafter, President Donald Trump suspended American funding for the WHO.  

“We are facing a funding crisis of gargantuan proportions,” Grande said at a virtual panel hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She noted that “donors have lost confidence” on account of the Houthi aid restrictions in northern Yemen. 

“Authorities, particularly in northern Yemen, have recognized there’s a problem,” she said. “They recognize it and have started to take steps to change it,” while stressing that more still has to be done to ensure that aid workers can do their jobs unhindered.