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Before international donor conference: UN calls situation in Yemen "worst development crisis in the world"

2021-03-01T06:43:25.825Z


"Being a child in Yemen is a special hell": For five years now, the people in Yemen have been suffering from a bloody proxy war, and UN Secretary General António Guterres has been warning of a major catastrophe.


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A cemetery in the embattled province of Marib

Photo: ALI OWIDHA / REUTERS

A bloody civil war has been raging in Yemen for almost five years.

A military alliance led by Saudi Arabia has been fighting against Shiite rebels in the country since March 2015 - the population is being crushed between the conflicting parties.

The United Nations is now calling for urgent help for the people in the country.

Already now, almost 50,000 people are close to starvation, reported the UN Emergency Aid Office (OCHA) on Monday.

400,000 children under five are acutely malnourished and could soon die without urgent help.

In order to save people and save millions more from a similarly precarious situation, the United Nations needs 3.85 billion dollars (3.15 billion euros) this year.

As much of it as possible should come together this Monday at a virtual donor conference.

Germany participates in it.

The head of the UN development program for the Arab country has described the situation there as the "worst development crisis in the world".

"Yemen has lost two decades of development progress," said Auke Lootsma in an interview with the AFP news agency.

The civil war country is currently "definitely one of the poorest, if not the poorest country in the world."

If the country continues to run down like this, it will "be very difficult to rebuild," said the UN representative.

"If more goods are destroyed and people get poorer and poorer, it will almost become an economically unsustainable state."

"Being a child in Yemen is a special hell"

Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas announced that Berlin also wanted to increase funds for the state.

“Today is not just about averting an acute famine in Yemen.

New bloody battles over Marib, cholera and polio outbreaks, plagues of locusts - the plight of the people is beyond imagination, «the SPD politician said before the conference.

"Today we will go ahead once again with a substantial new aid promise and insistently encourage others to do the same." However, there will only be hope for real improvement if the fighting can finally be stopped.

"Being a child in Yemen is a special hell," said UN Secretary General António Guterres before the start.

“The war is swallowing up a whole generation of Yemenis.

We have to end it now and deal with the enormous consequences immediately. "

Saudi Arabia and Iran proxy war

According to UN figures, a total of 3.6 million people have been displaced by bombing and fighting since 2015.

Peace efforts have failed for years.

The conflict is primarily a proxy war: the Saudi Arabia-led military alliance is fighting alongside the Yemeni government against the Shiite Houthi rebels supported by Iran.

The rebels overran the capital Sanaa in autumn 2014 and occupied important facilities.

According to the UN Emergency Relief Office, 2.3 million children under the age of five are at risk of acute malnutrition, more than ever before.

16 of the 29 million inhabitants need food aid.

The situation has worsened in 2020 due to new fights and the corona crisis.

In addition, due to the lack of money, significantly fewer people could be helped than necessary.

In total, donations totaled only $ 1.9 billion in 2020, 56 percent of the need.

Icon: The mirror

mrc / dpa / AFP

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2021-03-01

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