Yemen: situation increasingly alarming, says UN

Several UN and agency officials on Thursday called for urgent support for Yemen, where the situation is increasingly alarming as the Covid-19 pandemic progresses.

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" We are more and more worried " while " we have the capacity " to stabilize the serious humanitarian crisis that is affecting the country, these officials from, inter alia, the Humanitarian Affairs Department, stressed in an interview with journalists. 'UN, UNICEF, the World Food Program or the World Health Organization. " What we don't have is the money and we ask donors to be generous and pay their commitments quicklyThey added, referring to the prospect of a donors' conference co-organized on June 2 by Saudi Arabia and the UN. Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations for Humanitarian Affairs, Mark Lowcock said to seek until the end of the year for Yemen 2.4 billion dollars, including 180 million for the fight against the pandemic.

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" Yemen is in desperate need of help, " said Muhannad Hadi of the World Food Program, while UNICEF director Henrietta Fore spoke of a " major disaster ". More than 12 million children across the country are in need of humanitarian assistance. Before the pandemic, two million children were deprived of school. With the Covid-19, five million more children will leave it, she said. According to the UN, " Covid-19 is spreading rapidly across the country, already facing the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world, caused by a conflict that is not waning ." Officially, 50 deaths due to the pandemic have been recorded and the contamination affects 10 of the 22 governorates. " But tests and reports remain limited and it is likely that the majority of the regions of the country are already affected if not all, " said the UN.

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Yemen has been plagued by a deadly war since 2014 between the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who control several regions of the country, including the capital Sanaa, and the government supported by the Saudi-led coalition from 2015 This conflict has caused the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, according to the United Nations, and has caused the collapse of local health infrastructure.