UN raises $1.2bn for Yemen aid as donor conference begins

US biggest contributor so far as donors asked for $4.3bn

A worker helps distribute food aid in Sanaa, Yemen. Reuters

The UN on Monday raised about $1.2 billion in aid for millions of people in war-torn Yemen, as hopes persist that a fragile truce could foster a durable peace.

The world body is seeking far more than that — $4.3 billion — at a pledging conference in Geneva this week. The UN hopes additional donations will flow in, but it is unlikely the target amount will be met.

Addressing donors, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the aid being pledged “saves lives but it cannot resolve the conflict itself”.

“We have a real opportunity by renewing and expanding the truce, by advancing the political process,” he said.

More than one third of the money pledged on Monday came from the US, which will donate $444 million, bringing Washington's humanitarian aid to Yemen to more than $5.4 billion since the conflict began, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

“The United States' commitment to alleviating the suffering of millions from the world’s worst humanitarian crisis in Yemen remains resolute,” Mr Blinken said in a statement.

The conference took place as the warring sides continue to observe an informal and fragile ceasefire. Efforts are under way to declare a new truce after the parties failed to renew a UN-brokered truce in October.

Diplomats expressed “cautious hope” after the six-month truce last year brought “much-needed respite” to civilians and helped avert a famine.

More than 21 million people in Yemen, or two thirds of the country's population, need aid and protection, reported the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which said the humanitarian needs in Yemen are “shocking”.

Of those in need, more than 17 million are considered particularly vulnerable.

In Monday's first pledge, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said her country would provide €120 million ($127 million).

“This terrible humanitarian disaster is one the world repeatedly and much too often has almost closed its eyes to,” she said, and added that 400,000 children in the country are suffering from “the severest, most extreme hunger”.

The $4.3 billion appeal for 2023 is almost double the $2.2 billion that the UN received in 2022 to fund its humanitarian programme in Yemen.

Underfunding has led to agencies scaling back Yemen aid projects, including food supplies, in the past couple of years.

Last year, donors gave $2.2 billion of the $4.27 billion sought, UN data showed.

UN Emergency Relief Co-ordinator Martin Griffiths speaks during a joint press conference before the donor conference in Geneva. AFP

The conflict has killed more than 150,000 people, including about 14,500 civilians. The war has also created a horrendous humanitarian crisis, leaving millions suffering from food and medical care shortages and pushing the country to the brink of famine.

Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalek Saeed told Monday's conference: “Ending the humanitarian crisis starts with ending the war.”

UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said it was “rather sad” to reach the seventh such pledging conference for Yemen but hoped it would be the last.

“The fact is the Yemeni crisis has gone on far too long, punishing millions of innocent people who didn't want it in the first place, and deserve so much better,” he said.

Agencies contributed to this report