Originally posted to The Associated Press website, 14 October 2021
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Yemen’s economy is collapsing, its humanitarian crisis is worsening, and the conflict in the Arab world’s poorest nation is growing more violent, the U.N.’s deputy humanitarian chief said Thursday.
The grim remarks by Assistant Secretary-General Ramesh Rajasingham came during a briefing to the U.N. Security Council. More than 20 million Yemenis — two-thirds of the population — need humanitarian assistance, but aid agencies, he said, “are, once again, starting to run out of money.”
Aid agencies are now helping nearly 13 million people across the country, about 3 million more than just a few months ago, Rajasingham added. “Our best assessment is that this expansion has considerably pushed back the immediate risk of large-scale famine.”
But he warned that aid agencies don’t have enough money to keep going at this scale and “in the coming weeks and months, up to 4 million people could see their food aid reduced” and “by the end of the year, that number could rise to 5 million people.”
Link to the original post: https://apnews.com/article/business-united-nations-middle-east-yemen-famine-0ae94dc28a22df3c03197b7648698331
