Eight million Yemenis will likely lose all humanitarian aid in March unless urgent funds are delivered, United Nations officials have warned, amid an escalation in a long-running war that last month caused the highest toll in civilian casualties in at least three years. UN Special Envoy Hans Grundberg and UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths told the UN Security Council on Tuesday that January has seen nearly two-thirds of major UN aid programs being scaled back or closed, while combat zones have multiplied.
Yemen has been at war since 2014, when the Houthi rebels took control of much of the country’s north, including the capital, Sanaa, forcing the president to first flee to the south and then to Saudi Arabia. A Saudi-led military coalition entered the war in March 2015, backed by the United States with the aim of restoring President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power.
The UN has long warned that the war in Yemen has caused the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, but Griffiths cautioned that “aid agencies are quickly running out of money, forcing them to slash life-saving programs.” According to the UN humanitarian office, the 2021 humanitarian plan for Yemen received $2.27bn of its $3.85bn requirement, the lowest funding level since 2015. The 2022 plan has not been released. The UN’s World Food Program was forced to reduce food rations for eight million people in December and starting in March “those eight million people may get no food at all—or just a reduced ration,” Griffiths said. Funding shortages could also deprive 3.6 million people of safe drinking water and end programs to combat gender-based violence and promote reproductive health.
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